Smiles For the Champ

By Pete McDaniel
Freelance Writer

(March 1, 20-19)

Orlando, Fl.—I’ve covered golf tournaments around the world, and I admit those years of experience have contributed to my increased skepticism. I had witnessed on television the game’s latest master blaster, the rookie from California with the perfect last name for all arenas where competitors battle with a singular goal—number one when all of the strokes, points or minutes/seconds are counted.

That would be one Cameron Champ, the young man with an effortless pass that propels a golf ball from one zip code to another like no one before on the PGA Tour. Champ’s prodigious drives have been the talk of the tour and the buzz among galleries this season.

(PGATour.com)

Having walked with Tiger, when he possessed  the fastest hips and the jet-fueled swing, I had reservations about what I’d seen from Champ on TV—the Happy Gilmoresque drives that eclipsed by three limo lengths the rollout achieved by fellow big boppers Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka, to name a few.

So, I hobbled (I’m still limited to short distances three months beyond spine surgery) out to the 18^th hole (Champ’s ninth having started his round on the back nine) during the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill GC in Orlando this past week.

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Champ was one-under through eight holes and in need of a miracle round to survive the projected cut of one-over-par after spending too much time with the various occupants of Bay Hill’s lakes en route to a swimmingly fat 81 on Thursday. It wasn’t impossible but highly unlikely, especially after a hooked tee shot on No. 1 was mistakenly signaled out-of-bounds by a marker. Champ realized the error only after he had hit a second tee shot and surveyed the situation himself, which became problematic because he failed to announce the provisional.

To his credit, young Champ remained composed as evidenced by a short-iron shot that landed softly beneath the hole. He made the putt for a hard-earned bogey to keep fading hope alive.

I spotted a man who I correctly assumed to be Cameron’s father Jeff walking just ahead of me on the second hole.  After introducing myself and telling Jeff I was finally seeing his son in action for the first time, he shared with me the cause of Cameron’s poor start. According to Jeff, the culprit was a new shaft that performed effectively in practice but liked the left side of the fairway a little too much during actual competition on a course that severely penalizes right-handed hookers.

Champ switched back on Friday, according to his dad, and regained the familiar shot shape that consistently splits fairways.

Renewed confidence in his driver allowed Cameron to unleash the tremendous power on his tee shots again, which resulted in 350-plus yard drives on No. 4 and No. 6, both par-5s. On the latter, he took a line over the massive lake that I’d never seen before, which left him with what appeared to be a short iron into the green on the 555-yard hole.

I had seen enough, so I walked in with a smile on my face much like I used to when Tiger would birdie the 54^th hole of a major for the lead signaling game over.

Champ bounced back with a two-under-par 70 to miss the cut by six strokes. Ironically, so did Harold Varner III also at 151 after a second-round 72. Both showed enough grit to make the glass half full for me.

This time the smile was affirmation that I had seen the real deal in a rough-cut rookie with a mixture of power and grace reminiscent of the glory days in the not-too-distant past.

However, I would caution anyone with unrealistic, Tiger-sized expectations for Champ. The young man must make his own tracks in the game. So far, he’s doing just that one step at a time.

In the meantime, smile and enjoy the show.

Analyze This

I’m not big on analytics, but here are some stats from the API that might concern fans of Champ and HV3 going into the Players Championship this week at the TPC at Sawgrass:

Champ—Ranked 119^th in Strokes Gained Off the Tee; ranked 111^th in Strokes Gained Around the Green; total putts (58)

Varner—Ranked 23rid in Strokes Gained Off the Tee; ranked 122^nd in Strokes Gained Around the Green; total putts (60)

Perhaps unlike any other,  this week there will be a premium placed on not only finding fairways but positioning tee shots in the short grass for the best angle of approach into the greens. Also, undulating greens favor players with experience. HV3 proved this past season that he was up for the challenge of the Players with a T7. Champ, on the other hand, will for the first time face this major test physically and mentally. Patience is a necessity for the rookie.

Eschewing driver for fairway woods and long irons, Champ should find more fairways, which should mean a better ranking in strokes gained off the tee. First timers generally struggle with the TPC greens. So, don’t be surprised if that’s the case with young Cameron, as well.

ABOUT PETE McDANIEL

Pete McDaniel is a veteran golf writer and best-selling author. His blogs and books are available at petemcdaniel.com

Comments on this topic may be emailed directly to Pete at: gdmcd@aol.com or visit his Facebook page.