Brian Campbell’s tee shot sailed well right, toward a grove of trees on the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld’s second playoff hole, the par-5 18th, needing a fortuitous bounce off the bark to avoid settling out of bounds. On a day where he hit four par-4 approaches of 220 yards or longer, Campbell had pushed his playoff opponent, prodigious and powerful rookie Aldrich Potgieter, to the absolute brink on a Vidanta Vallarta layout that rewards the type of power not possessed by Campbell. Yet in that moment, it appeared the best week of Campbell’s career would finish just short of a PGA TOUR victory.
It was a noble effort for Campbell, who has battled injuries in recent years and at times felt such severe pain that he could barely grip a club, requiring him to ponder alternative career paths. But in that moment, with his tee shot sailing past the white stakes and into a tree grove on the second playoff hole at Vidanta Vallarta, Campbell faced a likely re-tee and a bogey at best. With Potgieter safely in play, Campbell seemed far away from a life-changing victory, spots in the Masters, THE PLAYERS, a two-year TOUR exemption through 2027 and all the trimmings of a PGA TOUR title.
