The Latest: DJ takes third-round lead at PGA Championship

THE OVERVIEW Cameron Champ is making his professional debut at this week’s OHL Classic at Mayakoba. He doesn’t yet have his PGA TOUR card, but once he secures it, expect the following prediction to come true at some point during his career. He will lead the TOUR in driving distance. OK, we’re not exactly going out on a limb with that one. Champ, the former Texas A&M star, showed earlier this year at the U.S. Open that he can outdrive the best players in golf. Not only did he lead the field at Erin Hills in driving distance, his 324.4-yard average (all drives) was 10 yards longer than the next players on the list, Trey Mullinax and eventual U.S. Open champ Brooks Koepka. On the measured holes (two per round), Champ averaged 337 yards. That was Champ’s first start in a TOUR event. His second came at last month’s 2017-18 season opener, the Safeway Open. Playing in a threesome that included former long-distance driving champion Jamie Sadlowski and former TOUR driving distance leader John Daly (the first TOUR pro to average more than 300 yards in a season), Champ averaged 311.9 yards on all drives in his first two rounds before missing the cut. Sadlowski averaged 317.9 yards while also missing the cut. Patrick Rodgers led the field on all drives for the entire week with a 306-yard average. Although Champ certainly relies on his strength off the tee, he knows that to succeed on TOUR, he’ll need a well-rounded game. At the U.S. Open, he was in contention through two rounds (tied for 4th) and eventually finished T-32 by finding Erin Hills’ generously wide fairways at a 75 percent clip. At the narrow Silverado layout, he hit the fairway just 35.7 percent of the time. Champ arrived early at El Camaleon to give himself more prep time. Despite the tight layout, he said the course “fits my eye and suits me well.� He’s figured out that it will again be important to find the fairway this week. Thus, his gameplan includes keeping his biggest weapon in the bag most of the time. “I’ll probably hit 2-iron on the majority of the holes,� Champ said. “Par 5s, obviously I’ll hit drivers.� Last week at Bear Creek Golf Club in Murrieta, California, Champ played in the second stage of Web.com Tour Q-School and finished inside the top 20 who will advance to the final stage in December. With at least some status secured, Champ opted to turn pro this week in the middle of his senior season at A&M. He’s playing on a sponsor’s exemption, one of the maximum seven that he can utilize. “I learned a lot from the first two pro events I played in,� Champ said. “Just have to get into my own groove and how to prepare right, how many practice rounds, how much practice, when to practice, when to leave the course, when to get there. I think I’ve kind of got it down for myself.� The one thing he definitely has down is his length off the tee. Until further notice, it will be his calling card. “I’m a pretty quiet, humble kid,� Champ said. “I don’t say much, but whenever I tee off, it kind of says it all.� THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER 1. PAT PEREZ: Defending champ. Current FedExCup points leader. Already a winner on TOUR this season. It’s a good time to be Pat Perez. 2. RICKIE FOWLER: His first career start in the OHL Classic is also his season debut. Time to start sending JT and Jordan a few messages. 3. CHESSON HADLEY: Top-five finishes in each of his first three starts this season. The only thing he hasn’t done thus far is finish first. Maybe that happens this week. THE FLYOVER The Mayan-influenced clubhouse offers a unique view for players as they stand on the tee at El Camaleon’s finishing hole, the 458-yard par-4 18th. Two years ago, the hole was the second-toughest on the course, playing to a stroke average of 4.214. Last year, it was a little friendlier, playing to a stroke average of 4.087 that ranked seventh most difficult. That made it the 21st most difficult finishing hole out of the 50 that were played on TOUR last season. Here’s a look at the 18th green and the clubhouse. WEATHER CHECK There should be some interesting weather this week at Mayakoba, with rainy conditions and challenging wind gusts for most of the week. PGA TOUR meteorologist Joe Halvorson reports that “instability increases Friday through the weekend as a cold front approaches and stalls out just north of the Yucatan Peninsula. This feature will bring chances for scattered showers and thunderstorms, in addition to increased northeasterly winds. Temperatures are forecast to reach highs in the middle 80s.� For the latest weather forecast from Playa de Carmen, Mexico, click here for the Travelers Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I can’t believe what’s transpired in 12 months … I was just hoping, you know, not to get hurt and hopefully get my card back and that kind of stuff – and here I am, I won twice and now I got to 18 in the world. I just can’t believe it. ODDS AND ENDS 1. NOTABLE NAMES. Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed are each making their first appearances in this event, helping to raise the quality of the field. In fact, eight of the 24 players who competed at last month’s Presidents Cup are at Mayakoba this week – U.S. teammates Fowler, Reed, Charley Hoffman and Kevin Chappell, along with International players Emliano Grillo, Jhonattan Vegas, Anirban Lahiri and Si Woo Kim. 2. STROUD’S STREAK. The OHL Classic is in its 11th year, and Chris Stroud has yet to miss a start. He’s the only player in the field to have competed in all 10 of the previous events. During that span, he has three top-15 finishes – his best a T3 in 2014 – and has missed the cut just twice. 3. HOME-GROWN FAVORITES. There are five players from Mexico in the field this week – Abraham Ancer, Roberto Diaz, Oscar Fraustro, Carlos Ortiz and Jose de Jesus Rodriguez. Ancer, ranked 287th in the world, is the highest-ranked of those five. “I think it’s great for Mexico that since we have this tournament here, it’s helping more Mexican players come out and play and see where their game is,� said Perez, who is of Mexican-American descent. “I think it’s awesome.�

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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico - Viktor Hovland recently bought a house in Stillwater, Oklahoma, which he shares with former Oklahoma State teammate Austin Eckroat. Eckroat, an Oklahoma State senior, speaks highly of Hovland's consistent, easygoing nature and its influence on his development. RELATED: Full leaderboard | What’s in Hovland’s bag? "He's about as easy a roommate as you can have," said Eckroat, who finished T12 at this week's Mayakoba Golf Classic presented by UNIFIN, six back of winner Hovland. "He eets popcorn and smoothies all day and watches movies. Not much that goes on in his life besides golf. "He's very easygoing, and I think that's something that everybody can take a part of from him. Just being stress-free, taking life easy." This demeanor shined down the stretch in Mexico, as Hovland hit 9-iron to 12 feet for birdie on the 72nd hole to secure his second PGA TOUR title, one stroke clear of Aaron Wise at El Camaleon GC. Hovland carded a final-round, 6-under 65 - including three birdies in his final six holes - to outlast a crowded leaderboard at 20-under total. The 23-year-old Norwegian becomes just the fifth European player (since 1945) to earn multiple TOUR titles before turning 24. It's an esteemed list that includes Rory McIlroy, Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm. Hovland earned his first TOUR title at the Puerto Rico Open this past February, where he drained a 25-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole to finish one ahead of Josh Teater. Once again, his even-keeled life perspective paid dividends down the stretch at El Camaleon GC. He got up-and-down from a greenside bunker on the 515-yard, par-4 16th to stay tied with Wise, then became the first player to win the Mayakoba Golf Classic with a 72nd-hole birdie in the event's 14-year history. In summer 2019, Hovland earned TOUR status via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, after watching fellow young phenoms Matthew Wolff (3M Open) and Collin Morikawa (Barracuda Championship) gain immediate TOUR membership via victories. Hovland didn't treat the Korn Ferry Tour Finals as ‘relegation' - he saw it as an opportunity to fulfill a dream. His big-picture perspective proved useful. Fifteen months after earning a card, he now stands No. 3 in the FedExCup standings. "I feel like it's just a personality trait, being kind of easygoing," said Hovland of his ability to shake off adversity with ease. "I don't like to worry about things, even though (worry) happens. I think you get it through practice and confidence in your abilities. "It's definitely a learned skill. I'm usually pretty bad at most things that I do, but if I get hooked on something, I'm going to put down some time and effort, until I feel like I can do it well. Golf has been one of those things." It certainly has. Hovland has yet to miss a cut since the Return to Golf in June. He has made 16 TOUR starts in that span, with 11 top-25 finishes. During the pandemic hiatus, Hovland made sure to enjoy some downtime in Stillwater - he and Eckroat enjoy watching war movies - but also focused on maximizing his time at the course. While in past times he might "hit balls for 30 minutes, play nine holes and go home," Hovland implemented new routines and strived to practice with a purpose. He also placed a premium on fitness and nutrition - admitting that ‘fad diets' might not be the best strategy for him. "I spent a lot of time on YouTube (during the hiatus), just learning about stuff," Hovland said. "I was into some fad diets, just weird stuff, just trying out to see how my body would feel. Figured out that's not it. Going through more conventional nutrition, figuring out what I need to eat. Eating more protein, a little less fat, very basic stuff. A little more frequent meals instead of eating just two times a day. "In Puerto Rico, I was doing intermittent fasting, and a couple of tee times, it was like 1:00 and I hadn't eaten the whole day. My early tee times, I teed off at 7:00 and finished after 12:00 and didn't have anything to eat before that. I don't think that was the way to go for me." Since that breakthrough Puerto Rico Open title, Hovland believes his game has rounded out further as well. He has gained speed off the tee - "practicing swinging hard, dedicating 20 minutes to just hitting it as hard as I can." He has improved his short game, now utilizing a 10-finger grip for chip shots within 30 or 40 yards. The AimPoint putting method, he said, has improved his ability to identify the correct line on the green. Two years ago, Hovland made his TOUR debut at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. He was an Oklahoma State junior, competing on a sponsor's invite. He missed the cut by a stroke. Last year, he again missed the cut by one. Third time proved the charm. "He just does nothing wrong," said Eckroat of Hovland's game. "The golf ball just stays in front of him. He never hits it off-line, never makes big mistakes. He never compounds one mistake on top of another. It's simple golf, and he does everything pretty well." Hovland's demeanor suggests that won't change anytime soon.

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