Weekly PGA Recap: Campbell is Mmm Mmm Good

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.

If you were almost 32 years old, virtually unknown and had been toiling around professional golf for a decade with not much success to show for all your effort, you'd think you were due for a big break.

Brian Campbell is that guy, and he got his big break on Sunday in a playoff at the Mexico Open.

Campbell sent his drive on the par-5 second extra hole soaring way right disastrously into the trees, only for his ball to ricochet back safely into play, setting up a miracle birdie and a life-altering victory over 20-year-old South African Aldrich Potgieter.

The Newport Beach, Calif., native and University of Illinois alum had made a combined 186 starts on the PGA and Korn Ferry Tours entering the week -- only 27 of them on the big circuit -- and had won a total of $1,487,830. That may sound like a lot, and it is, but consider that goes back to his pro debut in 2015. Campbell almost doubled that on Sunday, taking home $1,260,000.

"I mean, you've got to get those breaks sometimes," a jubilant yet still-shellshocked Campbell told reporters at VidantaWorld. "Unfortunately, I hit a really bad tee shot there, caught the tree, was able to keep it in play and get ourselves in a good position to get a wedge and keep the pressure on. I was just so happy that I was able to kind of stay in it to the end."

Campbell is a Korn Ferry graduate who earned his 2025 PGA Tour card. He had been a PGA Tour member once before, in 2016-17, but missed 13 of 20 cuts and was sent back to the secondary circuit. He had come close to winning before, finishing runner-up five times on the KF Tour, including three times last year, notably at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, to make his way back to the big tour.

He had three prior starts this year: WD at the Sony, T51 at the Amex, MC at the Farmers. There was very little to indicate Campbell's life was about to change.

Campbell now has a two-year-exemption, plus will get into the Masters, the PGA, THE PLAYERS and all remaining Signature Events.

And it only took a decade for it to happen. That feels like a long time.

"Um-hmm, it does," Campbell said. "It's hard to look at it that way, it's been a long time, but I battled through some injuries for the last couple years. It's not been easy, I'm not gonna lie, but I just, I don't even know what to say. It has been so long, it's been eight or nine years since I've been back. I guess I was focused more on getting myself healthy again and really just trying to enjoy golf again, have fun with it. It's crazy what can happen when you focus on the right things."

Of course, there are so many other nomadic golfers like Campbell, toiling for years on tours far worse the Korn Ferry. His victory offers inspiration to hundreds if not thousands of golfers. But he also has words of encouragement for them.

"Trust yourself. You know what you're capable of, you've put in years of hard work. It's not always going to go your way, but you really just got to trust the process, keep digging deep, you know, and just really believe in yourself. It's hard to do that out here when if you don't win, you're a loser. It's kind of an interesting concept, even second place. So we have to deal with that every week. You've really just got to trust yourself, believe in yourself and go take care of business."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Aldrich Potgieter
The 20-year-old South African led for much of the tournament and had his chances in the playoff, especially when Campbell was far back on his second shot on the second extra hole. It'll take a while for the sting to subside, but when it does, Potgieter will realize what an important week this was for him in his development. He is the longest hitter on the PGA Tour, yet he clearly has a lot more game than just that. In fact, he led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting. After missing his first two cuts of the year, Potgieter – the 2022 British Amateur winner at age 17 – tied for 15th at the Farmers. And now this. He appears secure in the Aon Swing 5 to qualify for the Arnold Palmer Invitational in two weeks.

Isaiah Salinda
The 27-year-old from San Francisco is, like Campbell and Potgieter, a Korn Ferry grad. He had gone MC-MC-T42 at the Farmers coming in. Salinda is an excellent driver – very long and pretty straight – which is a key at Vidanta. But his iron play – 138th in SG: Approach – will need to be a lot better on most other courses and in tournaments with better fields.

Aaron Rai
At No. 29, Rai was the highest-ranked player in the field. So his tie for fourth is roughly where he should've finished, odds wise. It had not been a good start to the year for Rai, who had gone T15-MC-T40-T37 coming in. His laser-like accuracy had been off, and this course will not confirm whether he got it back. The fairways are super wide with little trouble lurking. So with Rai, we shall see.

Ben Griffin
Griffin is more regularly showing up on the first page of leaderboards, albeit usually in weaker fields. He tied for fourth here and also was T7 at the Amex last month. A bunch of top-10s in lesser fields has now lifted him to No. 57 in the world, which is great, but even he knows he has to start doing better in the tougher tournaments with better fields.

Joel Dahmen
You don't have to be a great putter to succeed at the Mexico Open. But if you're Dahmen, who is really straight off the tee and with his irons, and can rank 12th in the field in SG: Putting, that will mean a really good week. Dahmen tied for sixth. He ranked 181st in SG: Putting last year but currently ranks 36th.

Stephan Jaeger
Jaeger has played in all four Mexico Opens. He's tied for 15th, 18th, third (last year) and now sixth. He was one of four players in the field ranked top-50 in the OWGR, so this was an expected result, as much as that can be in golf.

Nicolai Hojgaard
Hojgaard has now made nine straight worldwide cuts going back to last year after this week's solo eighth. It moved him to fifth in the Aon Swing 5, and he'd have to hang on one more week to qualify for Bay Hill. His twin brother, Rasmus Hojgaard, tied for 34th.

Akshay Bhatia
Bhatia was the betting favored and finished solo ninth. Not good if you bet him, but another good week in Mexico. He now has two top-10s in two visits.

Alex Smalley
Smalley notched his fourth top-25 of the young season and first top-10 with a tie for 10th.

Michael Kim
Kim had another good week, tying for 13th. He is middle of the pack in the Aon Next 10 standings, so he seems a good bet to qualify for the Bay Hill Signature Event in two weeks.

Blades Brown
The 17-year-old who makes Potgieter look old made his first cut as a pro. He tied for 34th after missing the cut at the Amex last month.

MISSED CUTS

Kurt Kitayama, Sam Stevens, Luke List, Padraig Harrington, Michael Thorbjornsen. Kitayama had a very good fall, with two top-10s, and that may be why has been regarded and priced highly in a bunch of tournaments. He didn't deliver here, obviously. … Stevens has had a strong start to the season and this may be a one-week blip. … Harrington is 53 and still plays a few times a year on the PGA Tour. … Thorbjornsen was the PGA Tour University top player last year and it got him his card. But unlike some other very young players, he is struggling mightily. He's missed three of four cuts in 2025 with a T74 at Phoenix.