American Cameron Champ has the power game to go far on PGA Tour
Power-hitting American Cameron Champ will have galleries in a fizz when his driver clubhead speed cracks 200km/h as he wallops his way around Royal Pines this weekend.
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Australian PGA championship drawcard Cameron Champ has a driving ambition to be among world golf’s elite.
But first, the big-hitting 24-year-old American is planning on entertaining the galleries on the Gold Coast this week with his world-class power off the tee.
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Champ averaged 308m in driving distance when he won the Safeway Open on the PGA Tour in September this year — his second victory on the world’s richest circuit after claiming the Sandersons Farms Championship in 2018.
He was the longest hitter at the 2017 US Open when he made his major debut (308m per drive), and the first player to win two PGA titles before his 25th birthday since Bryson DeChambeau.
He is also the 21st player in PGA Tour history to win two tournaments in their first 33 starts.
Before the world No. 79 bombs his way around Royal Pines with a driver clubhead speed of over 200km/h, the recently engaged Champ was driving golf balls from Currumbin to Palm Beach on Sunday.
“It’s a bit of fun,’’ he said.
“I’m playing well. My last event in Japan (the rain-shortened Dunlop Phoenix) I played really well and was in a really good position (tied for eighth) but we got washed out.
“I spent a few days with my coach Sean Foley last week and have been playing a lot at home, so I’m looking forward to the week.
“I’m not going to set any specific expectations for this week but we’ll see how it goes.”
Champ is gunning for a berth in the PGA Tour’s 30-man Tour Championship at the end of the 2019-20 season in what he describes as his “ultimate goal” for the year.
He was also a keen observer of the thrilling final day of the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne and would love to be on the US team in the future.
“If you are on that US team, you are definitely doing something right,’’ said Champ, who escapes from the pressures of pro golf by working on cars and trucks.
And his ticket to the big time will be his length off the tee.
Champ — whose father Jeff played two seasons in minor league baseball with the Baltimore Orioles — first picked up a club when he was two-years-old.
He was taught by his late grandfather Mack, a Vietnam veteran who passed away this year, at the par-three Foothill Golf Centre in California where a monthly pass cost $50.
Mack was gravely ill when Champ claimed his emotional win at the Safeway Open.
“I’ve always had that (driving distance) since I was a little kid,’’ Champ said.
“It got greater and greater as I got older but I had to learn how to dial it back and get it on the fairway.
“That’s why I hit it so low compared to what golf experts think you should.’’
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