The Mexico Open had several big names missing from the roster. With no player from the top 20 featuring in the tournament (and just four in the top 40 in the Official World Golf Ranking), there was the possibility for a new face to win their first-ever PGA Tour trophy. And that’s exactly what happened. After four rounds of grueling golf, Aldrich Potgieter and Brian Campbell were tied for the lead at 20 under par. It had to be decided through a playoff.

But the two candidates couldn’t be any more different. At just 20, South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter has been making waves. He won the Amateur Championship at 17, the second youngest ever, and at 19 years, 133 days, he became the youngest winner in Korn Ferry Tour history with his Bahamas Abaco Classic victory. If Potgieter is a prodigy in the making, Campbell has been on the fringes. The University of Illinois grad has been moving in and out of the PGA Tour, and despite 186 combined starts, he had yet to register a win in either the PGA Tour or the Korn Ferry Tour.

One can’t forget that his average ballspeed—160.93 mph—and clubhead speed of 108.22 mph are almost the worst numbers on the Tour. So on paper, he perhaps looked like an unlikely name to win.

Luckily, golf events aren’t won on paper and the Mexico Open proved this!

The playoffs were straightforward, with the 18th hole setting the stage for a tense showdown. Both players carded pars in the first round, but the second round brought all the drama!

Campbell’s shot was seemingly heading out of bounds before it struck a tree and ended up staying in bounds. This stroke of luck was what he needed as he 1-putted the hole to oust Potgieter and win his first-ever PGA Tour trophy. With the first victory, he also earned full membership on the Tour for the next two years while also being granted an exemption for the upcoming Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Course.

“You’ve got to get those breaks sometimes,” Campbell said later. “Unfortunately, I hit a really bad tee shot there, caught the tree, was able to keep it in play and get ourselves in a good position to get a wedge and keep the pressure on.”

“I was just so happy that I was able to kind of stay in it to the end.”

With this, the Tour’s shortest driver defeated Potgieter, who is their longest hitter.

Top Comment by krwoodmd

Come on people, grow up and show some semblance of character. It is not his fault that so many top...more

Share your take

Debate

Fans are unhappy with the poor play at the Mexico Open…

Without top players like Scheffler, Schauffele, McIlroy, Aberg, and so on, the controversial quality of golf was on display at Vallarta, Mexico. Tron Carter stated on the podcast: “This playoff feels like watching the shootout at the end of a member guest. Benjamin Salinas hosting the VidantaWorld Jamboree. And they’re unable to get everyone around 18 green under control. Hot Carls, squirters, barkies. It’s so sick.”

A bit later Schuster revealed: “You [Chris Solomon] had a great idea on our slack. You said the Masters should not grant a spot to Brian Campbell. They should grant a sport to whoever wins LIV Chapultepec as an olive branch of sorts.”

However, one can’t deny that luck was on Campbell’s side. In fact, after arriving on the PGA Tour during the 2016-17 season, he missed 13 cuts out of 20 starts. But the worst part was when he and his partner Miguel Angel Carballo were punished for slow play at the 2017 Zurich Classic (while the Tour has rules set in for slow play, its application has been sparse).

Post this, the golfer lost the Korn Ferry Tour card. In 2021, he also couldn’t get past the second stage of Q-School. All this, in addition to injuries, pushed him to consider ending his career. So, with his very first win, one can’t help but look back at his struggles.

But DJ Piehowski from ‘No Laying Up’ podcast couldn’t resist a quirky jab at the chaotic Mexico Open playoff on X. He wrote, “Augusta should leave a spot in the field empty in memory of this playoff.”

Here’s the thing: Both Campbell and Potgieter had scruffy starts. While the former missed a couple of short putts, the latter was struggling with distance control on his chips. They may have corrected things down the stretch, but it was enough to leave viewers irritated about quality. One fan wrote, “The Mexico Open was one of the worst professional golf tournaments I’ve ever seen. Some of the poorest play in recent memory. The Masters should renounce the automatic invite to Brian Campbell.”

Disbelief defined one fan’s reaction to the results of the Mexico Open. “I can’t believe this tournament gets an exemption to the Masters.” Brian Campbell had only played in five PGA Tour events in the last seven years. He made the cut at 2 and missed the cut in three events but never finished above the 50th position.

One fan couldn’t believe it when Brian Campbell’s Vidanta Vallarta win secured him a Masters spot, reacting with a shocked, “Brian Campbell is going to the Masters hahahahaha!”

That being said, Campbell also garnered a lot of support, wherein fans believed he deserved the win. As described by broadcaster Smylie Kaufman, the golfer got the “bounce of a career”, which left everyone surprised. “That ball shouldn’t have bounced back,” said Cooper Wilson, Campbell’s caddie. “It did. And then he had a 3-wood off the dirt, hit a 60-yard shot to however close and made it to have a job for two more years at least and chase his dreams some more.”

What do you think of the 2025 Mexico Open? Do you think it is unfair that the winner gets to play at the Masters? Or do you think Campbell deserves his spot?