Cameron Champ pens touching tribute to late grandfather

Earlier this week, Cameron Champ’s grandfather Mack passed away from stomach cancer. He was 78 years old.

Since his emergence on Tour last fall, Champ has made it clear just how much family means to him, and that Mack — the man who taught him the game — was the reason he’d made it this far. On the green after his debut win at last year’s Sanderson Farms, Cameron’s father Jeff called up Mack on his phone so that the three could share the moment together.

This fall, Mac’s health took a turn for the worse. He entered hospice care in Sacramento at the family’s home. During the week of the Safeway Open, Cameron commuted from Sacramento to Napa to spend extra time together. He wrote “PaPa” on his Nikes. And he won the event in emotional, inspiring fashion. Again, Jeff joined him on the green — and again he brought Mack with him on the phone. It was clear how much the moment meant to all three men.

“This will definitely be the greatest moment of my golfing career,” Cameron said afterwards.

After his passing on Monday, Champ wrote an Instagram post honoring his grandfather:

“A role model, mentor, and the greatest grandfather I could have ever asked for. You taught me life lessons I couldn’t have learned from anyone else. To be loving, caring, selfless and to have the ability to persevere through any obstacle that’s in front of you. You opened my mind to a lot of things this past month, that life itself is the greatest gift we were all given. That you always set out to do what’s right and to do what you truly believe in. The perspective I now have on life couldn’t have happened without you and I will always be appreciative of that and carry on your legacy forever. Give grandma a big kiss for me! Love you Pops! RIP 10-21-2019.”

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