Weekly Recap: The Champ Is In The Building

If you were a professional golfer, and if you could pick being consistently good week after week or great basically one tournament out of the season and nothing special the rest of the time, which would you choose?

Not that Cameron Champ planned it one way or the other, but his career is definitely following the latter scenario. And quite frankly, it's working out for him quite nicely, thank you very much.

Champ won the 3M Open on Sunday for this third career title -- one in each of the past three seasons -- though it was his first top-10 of the year and just the seventh of his career in 76 PGA Tour starts.

The 26-year-old Californian closed with a 5-under 66 to defeat Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Jhonattan Vegas by two strokes at TPC Twin Cities, moving him inside the top 125 in the FedExCup Standings with just two events left in the regular season.

Champ was in no danger of losing his Tour card -- thanks to one of those wins, the Safeway Open at the beginning of last season almost two years ago. But you still need to be in the top 125 to be in the playoffs. 

It was the latest example of how deep the Tour is, how a guy who had played pretty poorly for the better part of seven months could rise in a given week. Champ is making it into an art form. He missed the cut in nine of his first 16 starts in 2021 without so much as a single top-25 until last time out at the John Deere Classic, which hinted at improved play but hardly indicated a victory was imminent.

Champ has some of the best physical skills on Tour -- he's ranked third in driving distance this season -- that are capable of showing up at any given moment. Sustaining it across four days and 72 holes has always been an issue for him.

Back to Champ in a minute, but a quick note about Oosthuizen: He didn't win. Again. And finished second. Again. But just showing up a week after a third straight major heartbreak, in another continent, was incredibly honorable. Some other top guys who were in the Open bagged the 3M after committing to play. And all he needed was Champ to misplay 18 to get in a playoff. That didn't happen, of course, but it was just a remarkable performance by Oosthuizen. At 38, we can't say it's his best year but it's outstanding year and he's up to eighth in the world rankings.

Okay, back to Champ. He moved from 142nd in the standings to 49th. He also jumped to 66th in the OWGR. Just two tournaments remain for golfers to crack the top 125 – the alternate-field Barracuda Championship, with the modified Stableford scoring system, in two weeks and the Wyndham Championship, the annual regular-season finale, the week after. To be fair, there's also the WGC next week, but guys fighting for the top 125 aren't sniffing that one.

Champ was in a situation like so many other golfers at this time of year, desperately trying to get inside the top 125 to qualify for the playoffs. Most of them were and remain in a position much more dire than him as they don't have a recent victory and therefore, a secure spot on Tour, to fall back on.

With two tournaments to go in the regular season, here's a look at some other top-125 developments from the 3M Open. Schwartzel and Vegas were already secure.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Keith Mitchell
Mitchell had missed five straight cuts coming in. He stood 114th in points, probably secure and largely thanks to a tie for third at the Wells Fargo. He tied for fifth at TPC Twin Cities, thus moving to 93rd in points and locking up his playing privileges for next season.

Adam Hadwin
Hadwin was a little too close for his comfort, standing 120th entering the week after a season in which he had missed 11 cuts in 25 starts. But he tied for sixth to move to 107th, allowing him to exhale for next season.

Ryan Armour
The 45-year-old also tied for sixth, moving from outside the threshold to inside, 135th to 117th. Armour is not secure yet by any means, but he improved his situation significantly.

Chez Reavie
Reavie moved from 119th to 112th, which should be more than enough to keep his card. Yet it was a terrible day, as he had a share of the lead on the front nine only to bogey his way down to a tie for 11th.

Pat Perez
Perez tied for 11th to inch up from 115th to 109th – he is secure.

Gary Woodland
Woodland is not in danger of losing his card – he's set for some time as the 2019 U.S. Open winner. But that doesn't get him into the playoffs. He began the day in the final group only to limp home with a 1-over 72 to fall to T11. Still, it was enough to move from 127th to 119th. Woodland is not safe yet; let's see whether he plays Reno in two weeks.

Brice Garnett
He tied for 16th to move from 122nd to 118th – close but not home free.

Bo Hoag
Hoag really could've made the final few weeks easy on himself, and even the next couple of years, but didn't. He was in contention much the weekend. But he played the last three holes in three-over to fall to T16. He moved from 125th to 121st, so he clearly has more work to do.

Roger Sloan
Sloan entered the week 147th and was as high as tied for second on Sunday. But a disastrous double-bogey on 13 sealed his fate. He wound up T16 – a good week, but it moved him up only 10 spots to 137th.

Cameron Percy
The veteran Aussie tied for 34th to inch ahead from 132nd to 129th.

Rickie Fowler
Ah, what might have been. Fowler was leading the tournament on Thursday. He wound up tied for 34th to fall from 124th in the point standings to the bubble boy at 125. Fowler is not secure any other way past this year, as his two-year exemption for winning the 2019 Waste Management Open is expiring. Right now, he's in the playoffs, but he will be putting his future on the results of one tournament – the Wyndham. Unless he plays the opposite-field event in Reno. Would he? He should.

Charles Howell
Howell tied for 39th. He began the week at 130th at stayed there. He hasn't had to worry about his card in two decades. At age 42, he does now.

Patrick Rodgers
Rodgers had a good Sunday to move up to T39. But he went the opposite way in points, falling from 121st to the dreaded 126th.

Scott Stallings
T39 to fall from 117th to 122nd. 

Michael Thompson
The defending 3M Open champion tied for 39th, dropping from 131st to 132nd. He'll still have his card either way.

Camilo Villegas
Villegas, whose next birthday will be his 40th, tied for 51st. That dropped him outside the top-125, from 118th to 127th.
 
Chase Seiffert
Seiffert tied for 58th. That dropped him from 126th to 131st.

Nate Lashley
Lashley missed the cut to fall from 116th to 124th. He is no exempt past this season.

Matt Kuchar
Kuchar 43. He doesn't have to worry about his card because he won twice in 2019-20 (which adds an extra season to a two-year exemption). But he missed the 3M cut to fall from 112th to 120th in points, putting him in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time.

Dustin Johnson
The world No. 2 is obviously secure for years to come. But he missed the 3M cut, leaving him 15th in the point standings. Johnson is probably secure into the Tour Championship, but it's not a certainty yet.

Adam Scott
Scott did not play in Minneapolis, but he fell from 113th all the way to 123rd. That sounds scary but he should be safe. He's inside the top-50 in the world rankings and thus will qualify for the WGC-FedEx and all its free points.