Equipment

Cameron Champ cracked his driver right before teeing off on Sunday

Published

8 years ago

Oct 29, 2018

Golf’s new sensation, Cameron Champ, triumphed at the Sanderson Farms Championship over the weekend, and he did so without the ideal preparation on Sunday afternoon. The 23-year old arrived on the range ahead of Sunday’s final round with a four-shot lead attempting to land his maiden PGA Tour title, and 30 minutes before his tee time the American cracked the head of his PING G400 Max driver.

This is the driver of Cameron Champ 20 minutes before his final round tee time with a 4 shot lead. He had a backup in the car, and was able to hit a few on the range. pic.twitter.com/QfnvStHFqW

— Justin Leonard (@jlmountainman) October 28, 2018

Champ may have just a handful of appearances on the PGA Tour so far, but he has already made a name for himself with his incredible raw power. At his opening event of the season at the Safeway Open, Champ lead the field in both average club head speed (129.66 mph), and ball speed (192.67 mph). To put those numbers into perspective, the top average in both categories for the 2017/18 season was 124.67 mph from Keith Mitchell for club head speed and 182.22 from Trey Mullinax for ball speed.

The Californian, by all accounts, dealt with the adversity excellently. According to Golf Channel’s Justin Leonard, Champ calmly asked his father to retrieve a backup club from his car, casually saying, “Don’t worry, not a rush, I’m not going to hit it until the third hole.”

Champ lead the field in two of his opening three rounds for strokes gained off the tee, and cracking the head of his trusty driver just before the off on Sunday looked to be far more costly than Champ had imagined, as he saw his four-shot lead evaporate over the front nine in Mississippi.

However, Champ kept his head and rattled off five birdies in his last six holes to take the title by four. Speaking after his round, Champ commented on his shock at the incident, and the difficulties he faced because of it.

“It was very unexpected. Then my backup is my old one I have that week. I didn’t bring a new driver head. It was an older one from my previous driver. I know the weighting was just a little bit off, so just tried to hit as many balls as I could on the range with it just to get used to it a little bit. I tried to manage it. Obviously I knew mostly today was probably mixed with nerves and adrenaline and just trying to find my tempo and my swing and whatnot.”

Manage it he did, with Champ leading the final round in driving distance and proving that he is not just a sensation with the driver, but also very adept at dealing with adversity.

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Gianni Magliocco

Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at [email protected]

14 Comments

Pingback: Do Golf Drivers Wear Out Over Time - How Long Are They Good For? - The Ultimate Golfing Resource
The dude

Oct 30, 2018 at 3:57 pm

How do you crack the top??

Reply Report comment
Tom

Oct 30, 2018 at 1:54 pm

Crown suffered structural failure? Sounds like a design flaw or QC issue!

Reply Report comment
- geohogan
  
  Nov 9, 2018 at 9:57 am
  
  Jamie Sadlowski had to have specially made clubheads with less COR. He cracked off the shelf clubheads after a few shots. At those speeds shaft tips (0.335 inch diameter) will also break relatively quickly.
  
  Reply Report comment
dat

Oct 29, 2018 at 4:01 pm

typical WRX’r

Reply Report comment
Tom54

Oct 29, 2018 at 3:05 pm

At nearly 130 mph swing speed he may need to have several drivers on hand. Wonder what the max speed is when these drivers are put through their tests. Glad to see him get his first win.

Reply Report comment
~j~

Oct 29, 2018 at 2:52 pm

Happens to the best of us. ????

Reply Report comment
Rick

Oct 29, 2018 at 2:29 pm

“F#$%K”!!!!!!!!!

-Ping

Reply Report comment
Peter

Oct 29, 2018 at 1:19 pm

Isn’t this exactly why tour trucks are there?

Reply Report comment
- Tim
  
  Oct 29, 2018 at 1:31 pm
  
  Tour trucks usually pull out wed or thurs. Some stay around longer especially at majors and it also depends on the length of drive to next event.
  
  Reply Report comment
- Chris
  
  Oct 29, 2018 at 1:32 pm
  
  The tour trucks usually leave after Wednesday.
  
  Reply Report comment
- mlb
  
  Oct 29, 2018 at 3:04 pm
  
  A tour truck would have made no difference. The kid is strong
  
  Reply Report comment
Greg V

Oct 29, 2018 at 12:10 pm

So, what was his old driver?

and if you are Cameron Champ, why not travel with a spare head.

Reply Report comment
- Johnny Penso
  
  Oct 30, 2018 at 4:18 pm
  
  Probably an old McGregor persimmon driver because, according to some here at WRX, it’s almost as long as a modern driver, it’s the ball that made all the difference back in the day.
  
  Reply Report comment

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Whats in the Bag

Brianna Do WITB (June 2026)

Published

18 hours ago

Jun 8, 2026

Will Schube

Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (9 degrees)
Shaft: KBS PGW

3-wood: Callaway Elyte Titanium (15 degrees)
Shaft: KBS PGW

5-wood: Callaway Elyte (18 degrees)
Shaft: KBS PGW

Hybrids: Callaway Paradym (21 @22, 24, 27 degrees)
Shafts: KBS PGI 60

Irons: Callaway X Forged Star (7-PW)
Shafts: KBS PGI 75

Wedges: PXG Sugar Daddy III (50, 56, 60 10S)
Shafts: KBS

Putter: Odyssey Damascus Milled Rossie S Putter

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Whats in the Bag

Athena Singh WITB 2026 (June)

Published

18 hours ago

Jun 8, 2026

Will Schube

Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (10.5 Degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 S

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Max (16 Degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 6 S

5-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (18 Degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 6 S

Hybrid: TaylorMade Qi4D (25 Degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue HB 7 S

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (5-PW)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT Graphite 65 R

Wedges: TaylorMade MG5 (50-09SB, 56-08LB, 60-08LB)
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Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour

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Equipment

What are the best golf socks? – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

21 hours ago

Jun 8, 2026

Will Schube

In our forums, not everything is about club selection and shaft options. A heated debate has bubbled up surrounding the best sock options players can wear on the course.

@CletePurcel asked:

“Just bought 2 new pairs of FootJoy shoes and trying to find out the most favorable socks to wear. I try to walk 9 holes two to three times a week and good socks are a must. Thanks in advance.

Members in the forum chimed in with their favorite footwear accessories. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

Maroon_19: “I’ve only worn Kentwool socks for golf for the last 8 years – regardless of weather. I walk 90% of my rounds and play anywhere from 50-75 rounds a year (going to go up as I just retired). They only get worn for golf. As long as you care for them, they’ll care for you. Have had zero blisters with them. I just started using my second set of 8 pair for our Bandon trip earlier this month. The old ones will now go into the daily wear rotation. Still good after all these years.”
smoova: “I’ve had good luck with Swiftwick. Walk every round 12 months a year in Colorado.”
Hawkeye77: “FJ Pro ProDry is what I’m usually wearing just because I have more of them, but I’ve got some Smartwool socks I love for the wool aspect – they sell them as running socks. The thicker socks are better for certain shoes. I’ve gone merino/other wool in almost all my socks – athletic, “dress” and so forth – no more “Orlon”, lol, some golf socks are the exception.”
th6252: “Another vote for Kentwool, honorable mentions to Balega and Falke(thanks to someone on this forum for turning me onto the RU3).”

Entire Thread: “Best golf socks???”

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