Wayward drive, mud ball dooms Cameron Champ at Mexico Open

Cameron Champ had everything going for him. He was in the final group, one off the lead and had just birdied two straight holes. And then he hit his drive on the par-4 8th hole at the Mexico Open.

His drive barely cleared the water on the dog-leg right at Vidanta Vallarta, and after some searching it was found plugged near the bank. Champ pitched out to the fairway, but his problems weren’t over. A good amount of mud on the ball, and a cross wind, affected his approach into the green. The CBS telecast zoomed in on the ball to see it smeared with mud seconds before Champ unleashed his swing, and he sent the ball soaring left with a big hook.

“Mud,” Champ muttered to himself.

“Just so hard to create any kind of control with that mud on that ball,” said Ian Baker-Finch on the telecast.

That latest miss lead to a few more. He chunked his next chip, then left his fifth shot eight feet short. He missed that out to the right and tapped in for a dreaded triple-bogey 7.

When he teed off, he was 16 under and one behind leader Jon Rahm. He walked off the green 13 under and tied for 5th.

You can follow the final round here.