SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda (AP) — Rafael Campos celebrated the birth of his daughter on Monday and now is in position for another big moment. He set a personal best with a 9-under 62 on Saturday to share the lead going into the final round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
Andrew Novak also shot a 62 on a day when the wind became ferocious 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 was rolling back down a cart path and hopped onto the grass.
Justin Lower, who began the blustery day with a 62, drove into the water on the par-5 18th and scrambled for a bogey for a 68 to finish one shot behind.
Campos and Novak were at 16-under 197, both searching for their first victory. The timing couldn’t be better in so many ways for Campos, the 36-year-old from Puerto Rico with an abundance of 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 get into the top 125 and keep 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 playing. His job was at stake, which led them to induce labor. And he said it eased some of the stress he has been feeling after missing four straight cuts as his ranking kept falling.
“My wife is extremely understanding on where I’m standing on the FedEx, first of all,” he said, struggling to keep his emotions in check. “The whole process of trying to induce labor on Monday was for me to try to get to the tournament, so we were always looking to try to see if I can make it here.”
They got home from the hospital at about 5 p.m. Wednesday.
“I held my daughter. I thought in like 20 minutes I had to go to the airport,” he said. “I do want to provide for them as much as I can, so we’re here and fortunate everything went well. It’s a bonus that I’m doing well this week.”
It went great on Saturday in the strong wind, which Campos enjoys. He chipped in for birdie on the 15th, holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the scary par-3 16th, got up-and-down with another tester of a birdie putt on the 17th and held on for par on the closing hole.
The wind was out of a different direction. Players who had been hitting as little as wedge to the 18th earlier in the week were hitting as much as hybrids.
Lower said of the four-hole closing stretch: “I don’t think that’s golf if you ask me. Balls were going backwards in the air.”
He also said the PGA Tour treats the lesser-known players differently.
“I realize that a lot of people had to play in it, 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 they wanted to stop, I think the rules officials would have said, ‘Yeah, we’ll stop.’ When anyone else in the field, if we would have said, ‘I don’t feel comfortable playing in this,’ we would have been told ‘tough’ and to proceed with the round.”
Lower is coming off a runner-up finish last week in Mexico. He also is going for his first PGA Tour win, which feels even more critical with the PGA Tour likely to reduce exempt status to the top 100 players starting in 2026.
This is the first time Campos has had a share of the 54-hole lead. He also was tied at the Puerto Rico Open and the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic, both in 2021.
The circumstances are different this time around.
“I’m in a really tough spot right now on the FedEx, I did not want to be in this position. I want a job for next year, I really do,” Campos said. “I’ve put a lot of pressure and stress and just everything the last like six months. I think really everything has 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 lost my job and I’ve got a beautiful daughter and beautiful wife back home just waiting for me to hopefully give ’em a hug. Hopefully I have a good day tomorrow and we’ll see how we end up.”
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