What a week for Rafael Campos.
On Monday, he and his wife, Stephanie, welcomed their first child into the world, a reality that this couple did not believe was possible not too long ago. Hence, Campos called it the “best day of his life,” something millions of new parents around the world can relate to. But becoming a new father also cleared Campos’ mind. He could only focus on his new family and not his anxieties about losing his PGA Tour card. He sat at 147th in the FedEx Cup Fall standings last week, not even sniffing the top 125 and on the brink of losing conditional status.
To make matters worse as it relates to his golf, Campos did not even have a chance to practice or see the golf course ahead of this week’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship. He and his family left the hospital on Wednesday and Campos flew to Bermuda early Thursday, landing on the island a mere hours before his first round tee time.
And he went on to win the golf tournament, the first PGA Tour title of his career. He also became the first Puerto Rican to win on tour since Chi Chi Rodriguez, who last did so in 1979.
“Just grateful, man. Just extremely grateful to have had this opportunity and especially such an unbelievable week with my daughter,” Campos said.
“I’m just extremely happy to be a champion and not have to worry about where I’m going to be playing the next couple of years. That was something that was bothering me for the last like six months, and ironic how everything just flipped, and fortunately, I can just go out and enjoy and play golf.”
Not only does Campos soar up the FedEx Cup Fall rankings to 80th, but he also will tee it up at Augusta National for the first time next April. It will be his first major championship start. He will also have status on the PGA Tour through 2026.
“The most important thing for me was job security. That’s something we struggle with here on the PGA Tour because it’s so hard to get up here, and it’s so easy to lose everything,” Campos added.
“I’ve been a pro for 15, or 16 years, and this year was honestly the first time that I probably would have had zero status anywhere like if I had not done well this week and kind of starting back from before PGA Latin America. In the back of my mind, I’m like, man, ‘It’s going to be tough’ just because I’m older.
“I want to provide as much as I can for my family, so money was never a factor. I didn’t even—I honestly had not even realized that I just won a tournament. Like you just saying those things, possible invitation to these things, money, all I wanted was job security, to tell you the truth. That was the only thing on my mind. Just to be able to know that I have a few years coming up now of not having to worry whether or not I’m in a tournament or not and being able to set a good schedule and mentally prepare myself for all those is just unbelievably huge. That is the most important thing right now for me.”
Campos committed to next week’s RSM Classic in Sea Island, Georgia, so he will tee it up there, too. Who knows. Maybe he can keep his winning ways going. After all, he is undefeated as a father. But regardless of what happens, Campos will leave the RSM Classic, head home to his new family, and have a wonderful—and anxiety-free—holiday season.
That’s pretty special, and stories like these are what makes the PGA Tour Fall so unique.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.