SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Rafael Campos felt like he was living a fairy tale Sunday when he went from being on the verge of losing his PGA Tour card to winning the Bermuda Championship, just six days after his wife gave birth to their first child in time to let him play.
Campos drilled his approach to 2 feet for eagle on the par-5 seventh hole during a surge that carried him to a 3-under 68 for a three-shot victory, joining the late Chi Chi Rodriguez as the only players from Puerto Rico to win on the PGA Tour.
The 36-year-old Campos has never played in a major. Now he’s going to the Masters. This was only his second full year on the PGA Tour. The win makes him exempt through 2026.
“I just can’t believe this is actually happening to me,” Campos said through the sobs when he was interviewed on the 18th green after tapping in for par.
He won by three shots over Andrew Novak, who shot 71 for his best PGA Tour finish. Novak pulled within two shots when Campos missed an 18-inch par putt on the 14th par. Campos was not rattled, hitting all the right shots in a ferocious wind on the closing holes.
The tears began flowing moments after he tapped in for par and tried to grasp what happened.
Campos was No. 147 in the FedEx Cup with only two tournaments left, and he wasn’t sure he could make it to Bermuda. He and wife decided to induce labor, and Paola Isabel was born Monday.
Coming off five straight missed cuts — Campos missed eight in a row earlier in the season — he made it to Bermuda in time and no longer felt the stress of being on outside of the top 125. Campos had said on Saturday the joy of their first child brought perspective and peace.
The result was the best performance in his 80th career start on the PGA Tour.
“It’s been an unbelievable week — best week of my life,” he said. “Such a bad year, and to have things go my way — everything together at once — I’m just so happy. I’m grateful to call myself a PGA Tour champion. It’s something I’ve dreamt about my entire life.”
Campos, who finished at 19-under 265, earned $1.242 million and a two-year exemption, which might be more valuable. This was only his second year earning a full card. Campos gets into The Sentry to start the year at Kapalua, along with the Masters, the PGA Championship and The Players Championship.
He was tied with Novak to start the final round, and both were passed quickly by Justin Lower, a runner-up last week in Mexico.
That changed when Campos worked the wind flawlessly, setting up a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 6 and the eagle on the next hole. And it changed for Lower, who four-putted for double bogey on the par-3 eighth and never quite recovered.
Campos used his imagination in hitting shots through the wind, and it paid off on No. 10 when his shot rolled out to 18 inches for birdie, and on the next hole when he rammed in another birdie putt from 15 feet.
Then it was a matter of finishing in conditions so windy and tough that even short putts were being blown off-line. Campos didn’t take a wrong step outside of the 18-inch putt he missed.
A few friends rushed onto the 18th green to spray him with bubbly, and he took a swig to celebrate a week he never imagined.
“It’s been such a bad year ball-striking wise,” Campos said. “This game is so hard when things aren’t going well, so hard to actually get yourself to be confidence. Things have just been so different this week. I just don’t know. I’m just so grateful.”