Cameron Champ’s next challenge is defying the odds of opposite-field event winners

Cameron Champ showed off his awesome length at the 2017 U.S. Open, and now the 23-year-old Californian has his first PGA Tour victory. He poured it on down the stretch with big drives and big putts for a four-shot victory in the Sanderson Farms Championship.

 

The trick now is following it up.

 

The PGA Tour is deeper than ever, and a first victory anywhere is meaningful. Even so, opposite-field events are not always the best measure.

 

According to the Official World Golf Ranking, three events in the Web.com Tour Finals this year had a stronger field than the four PGA Tour events that were held the same week as the British Open and three World Golf Championships.

 

Dating to the start of the wraparound season in the fall of 2013, there have been 19 opposite-field events on the PGA Tour schedule. Thirteen were won by players who captured their first PGA Tour title. None of those 13 has yet to win again.

 

The list includes Tony Finau (2016 Puerto Rico Open), who went 2-1-0 in his Ryder Cup debut last month. Chesson Hadley was the only player ranked inside the top 100 in the world (No. 92 when he won the 2014 Puerto Rico Open). D.A. Points had the lowest ranking. He was No. 634 when he won Puerto Rico in 2017.

 

The average world ranking of opposite-field winners the last five years is No. 297.

 

This article was written by Doug Ferguson from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.