Matt SullivanJACKSON, MS – OCTOBER 28: Cameron Champ plays his shot on the second hole during the final round of the Sanderson Farms Championship at The Country Club of Jackson on October 28, 2018 in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

By Christopher Powers
Just by leading through 54 holes at the Sanderson Farms, Cameron Champ had already proved how real all the hype was surrounding him. What he did on the final six holes at the Country Club of Jackson, making birdies on all but the 17th, further proved that point. His most impressive moment though, came at the 18th hole, where he appeared to get into a bit of trouble off the tee by missing the fairway in the left rough.

With 164 yards to the pin and a huge tree blocking his line to the green, Champ’s caddie could be overheard saying “do you absolutely love that play?” He was referring to what had to have been a mid-iron punch-out shot, but then advised Champ that a lob wedge over the tree and safely into the fairway could be a smarter play, leaving him another wedge shot into the green to setup a potential par, at worst a bogey. With a two-shot lead, that would have been fine, but Champ stepped right up and said he was just going to try and punch the ball into the bunker. Instead, he pulled off a shot that’s already in the running for the best of the year:

Not sure what else to add then everything Justin Leonard, Jim “Bones” Mackay and John Swantek all said. They summed it up pretty nicely. Aside from putting it in the hole, you can’t hit a better shot then Champ did, and he of course went on to hole the birdie putt to win by four. He’s played in just nine PGA Tour events and he looks like he already knows how to close out a tournament. This 23-year-old kid is going to be a force in the game for years to come.