Campos breaks through in Bermuda, Korda captures The Annika | The Sunday Swing

The Sunday Swing
November 17th, 2024 

Welcome back to another edition of the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf. This week in the professional golf world, the PGA Tour was in Bermuda for the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, and the LPGA was back in the United States for The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.

Butterfield Bermuda Championship - Tournament History

The Butterfield Bermuda Championship made its debut on the PGA Tour in the fall of 2019 at the Port Royal Course designed by Robert Trent Jones. The par-71 measures just 6,842 yards, making it one of the shortest stops on the entire PGA Tour schedule. With not much to defend it outside of coastal winds, scores at the Bermuda are usually pretty low. In the six editions of the event, the highest winning score has been 15-under par. The tournament has been won by players of five different nationalities, and has never been won by the same player twice. The previous five winners of this event are as follows: 

2024 - Rafael Campos (-19)
2023 - Camilo Villegas (-24)
2022 - Seamus Power (-19)
2021 - Lucas Herbert (-15)
2020 - Brian Gay (-15)

The Big Swing 

This week the big swing belongs to first time winner Rafael Campos. The 36-year-old Puerto Rican has never won an event on the PGA Tour. Campos made his first career start in Puerto Rico all the way back in 2008. Since then his career has been largely spent grinding to keep his card- which he was doing again this week as he entered sitting at 147th in the FedEx Cup standings. The stakes couldn’t have been higher for Campos as he teed off on Thursday, and an opening round 70 didn’t really do much for his cause. At five back after the first round, Campos found something on Friday and was able to put together a round of 65, moving all the way up into a tie for 10th. Even though he was inside the top-10, he still trailed the leader by five after two rounds and had plenty of ground to make up on the weekend. 

With the first goal of making the cut accomplished, Rafael Campos now had a chance to make up some ground as a chaser and secure as many points as possible to help solidify his spot inside the top-150. As the third round was underway, it was clear Campos had something special going when he closed out his front nine with birdies on the final 4 holes to card 31. As he made the turn, he picked up another birdie immediately at the 10th. Campos cooled off briefly, making pars on four in a row before rattling off three more birdies on holes 15-17. One more par on 18 capped off a bogey-free round of 62 that vaulted Campos into a share of the lead after three rounds.

The man he shared the lead with was Andrew Novak, who was able to replicate the round Campos had, matching his 62 and also going from down five to tied for the lead. 

The final round pairing also included Justin Lower, who continued his strong play this week. None of the three players in the final group have won on tour before, making it a shared experience for them all as they got set to battle it out. As the final round began, Lower had the early advantage after making birdies at 1, 5, and 7. Campos had made a bogey at the 4th, but bounced back nicely with a birdie and an eagle at 6 and 7. Lower would end up making a double on the par-3 8th and the trio would all turn in 35. 

Campos started out the back nine with birdies at Nos. 10 & 11, as he jumped out to the lead quickly. All three of the players in the final group would fail to make a birdie until the par-5 17th. To this point, Campos was still holding onto a one shot lead over Andrew Novak. All three players made birdie on 17, setting up for a dramatic finish. Needing to make a birdie, Andrew Novak and Justin Lower both made costly bogeys on the final hole. With Campos making par, he would end up picking up another shot and winning by 3 over Novak. After picking up his first victory, Campos was very emotional in his celebration. The victory not only secures his job for two years, but he also earned his first invite to the Masters this April where he will tee it up at his first major.

Winner’s Bag - Rafael Campos 

Titleist staffer Rafael Campos became just the 2nd player from Puerto Rico to win on the PGA Tour (Chi Chi Rodriguez). The wind played a big factor this week, causing many players to make tweaks to their equipment. Off the tee, Campos plays the all new Titleist GT2 driver (10 degrees). He carries just one fairway wood to match the driver — a GT2 3-wood (13.5 degrees). One of the clubs that helped in the wind this week was his Titleist U505 2-iron. Campos also carries a T150 4&5 iron, and 620 MB 6-9 iron. Around the greens, Campos games the Vokey SM10 wedges (46, 50, 54, and 60 degrees). On the greens, Campos rolls a Scotty Cameron TourType Timeless Buttonback Prototype.

In the World of Women’s Golf 

This week the LPGA Tour was in Florida for The ANNIKA, which drew an elite field of players including Nelly Korda, Charley Hull, Rose Zhang, Lydia Ko, Minjee Lee, and many more. 

Korda, the No. 1 ranked player, has already won six times in 2024, and was looking to make it seven this week. She got off to a good start, shooting a pair of 66’s to get to 8-under at the half way point. Hull was off to an even better start, shooting 64 and 66 to grab the early lead. 

On Saturday, Korda posted a 67 after a hot finish, while Hull posted 68, allowing Korda to get one shot closer. Rose Zhang was also in the conversation, and her third round 68 kept her within a few shots heading into the final round. The biggest story of the 3rd round was Weiwei Zhang, who carded an 8-under 62 and surged to the top of the leaderboard. 

On Sunday, things were looking dire for Nelly Korda early in the round. She made three bogeys on the front nine to shoot a 2-over 37. It was at this point that Korda’s experience winning championships took over and she found her groove. Korda would string together five consecutive birdies on the back nine from 11-15. Meanwhile, her competitors failed to keep up, opening up a three shot lead late in the final round. Korda would par the final three holes which was enough to win by three. Her back nine 30 secured her 7th win on the LPGA Tour in 2024. Charley Hull, Jin Hee Im, and Weiwei Zhang all tied for 2nd at 11-under par.