SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda (AP) — Rafael Campos celebrated the birth of his daughter Monday and is now ready for another big moment. He set a personal best with a 9-under 62 on Saturday to share the lead heading into the final round of the Bermuda Butterfield Championship.
Andrew Novak also shot a 62 on a day when the wind became fierce toward the end of the round at Port Royal, with gusts topping 40 mph. Novak caught a break on the 18th when his tee shot rolled onto a cart path and popped onto the grass.
Justin Lower, who started the windy day with a 62, took to the water at the par-5 18th and raced to bogey for a 68 to finish one shot behind.
Campos and Novak were at 16-under 197, both looking for their first victory. The timing couldn’t be better in many ways for Campos, the 36-year-old Puerto Rican with an immense gratitude that has made him a favorite among his peers.
He is No. 147 in the FedEx Cup with one tournament remaining to try to break into the top 125 and maintain his full status for next year. And then his wife gave birth to their first child, Paola Isabel, on Monday.
There was no discussion about Campos’ play. Her job was on the line, leading them to induce labor. And he said it eased some of the stress he felt after missing four straight cuts as his ranking continued to decline.
“First of all, my wife is extremely understanding of my position regarding FedEx,” he said, struggling to keep his emotions in check. “The whole process of trying to induce labor on Monday was me trying to make it to the tournament, so we were still looking to see if I could make it.”
They returned from the hospital around 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
“I held my daughter in my arms. I thought that in 20 minutes I had to go to the airport,” he said. “I want to provide for them as much as I can, so here we are and luckily everything went well. It’s a bonus that I’m doing well this week.”
Everything went well on Saturday in the strong wind enjoyed by Campos. He chipped in for birdie on the 15th, holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the scary par-3 16th, went up and down with another testing a birdie putt on the 17th and held on for par on the final hole.
The wind was blowing in another direction. Players who were hitting as little as the 18th corner earlier in the week were hitting as much as the hybrids.
Lower said of the final four-hole stretch: “I don’t think it was golf if you ask me. The balls were going backwards in the air.”
He also said the PGA Tour treats lesser-known players differently.
“I realize a lot of people had to play, but I don’t think it’s fair if that makes sense,” Lower said. “I think if a top 10 or top 15 player in the world was here and he wanted to quit, I think the rules people would have said, ‘Yeah, we’re going to quit.’ When anyone else on the field, if we had said, ‘I don’t feel comfortable playing in this,’ we would have been told ‘tough it out’ and continue with the round.”
Lower is coming off a second-place finish last week in Mexico. He’s also aiming for his first PGA Tour victory, which seems even more critical with the PGA Tour likely to reduce exemption status to the top 100 players starting in 2026.
This is the first time Campos has shared the 54-hole lead. He also tied at the Puerto Rico Open and the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic, both in 2021.
The circumstances are different this time.
“I’m in a very difficult situation right now at FedEx, I didn’t want to take this position. I want a job for next year, I really do,” Campos said. “I put a lot of pressure and stress and all that in the last six months. I think really everything changed this week, not because I’m playing well.
“I had a daughter on Monday and it doesn’t matter if I play bad, they don’t care. If I end up losing my job, I lose my job and I have a beautiful daughter and a beautiful wife at home. I ‘wait until I give them a hug, I hope I have a good day tomorrow and we’ll see how we end up.
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