Brian Campbell’s tee shot sailed well right, toward a grove of trees on the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld’s second playoff hole, the par-5 18th, needing a fortuitous bounce off the bark to avoid settling out of bounds. On a day where he hit four par-4 approaches of 220 yards or longer, Campbell had pushed his playoff opponent, prodigious and powerful rookie Aldrich Potgieter, to the absolute brink on a Vidanta Vallarta layout that rewards the type of power not possessed by Campbell. Yet in that moment, it appeared the best week of Campbell’s career would finish just short of a PGA TOUR victory.

It was a noble effort for Campbell, who has battled injuries in recent years and at times felt such severe pain that he could barely grip a club, requiring him to ponder alternative career paths. But in that moment, with his tee shot sailing past the white stakes and into a tree grove on the second playoff hole at Vidanta Vallarta, Campbell faced a likely re-tee and a bogey at best. With Potgieter safely in play, Campbell seemed far away from a life-changing victory, spots in the Masters, THE PLAYERS, a two-year TOUR exemption through 2027 and all the trimmings of a PGA TOUR title.

Then came the bounce.

In what could almost be described as a gift from the golf gods, the reward for a decade of perseverance in professional golf, Campbell’s ball struck a tree solidly enough – and with the correct angle – to bounce back into play. His ball traveled just 227 yards, leaving 311 yards to the hole, but he had a fighting chance. He laid up to 68 yards and got up-and-down for the winning birdie, converting a 4-footer after Potgieter’s 6-foot birdie attempt slid by.

“That ball shouldn’t have bounced back,” said Campbell’s caddie Cooper Wilson of the fateful tee shot on the second playoff hole. “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.”

“Brian is obviously just super talented by nature, but no one has worked harder for this,” added Campbell’s girlfriend Kelsi McKee. “When I tell you how much he’s worked, how he’s come literally from the bottom to here, and watching that process on the Korn Ferry Tour when he almost lost his status there, to now see him win, all I see is all the work he’s put in, and this moment belongs to him.”

Nearly a decade after turning professional in 2015 on the strength of an acclaimed University of Illinois career, Campbell is a PGA TOUR winner. It’s a title that might have seemed inevitable as a newly minted professional – he earned his first TOUR card via the 2016 Korn Ferry Tour in his first full year as a pro – but the circumstances at Vidanta Vallarta, and the underlying context of his journey, made for a magical moment Sunday evening. After regaining his card via the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour (finishing No. 7 on the season-long standings without a win), he earned his first TOUR-sanctioned title in his 187th try. He’s now fully exempt on TOUR through 2027, has a big-ticket schedule including the 2025 season’s remaining Signature Events, and will forever carry the knowledge that he’s a PGA TOUR winner.

It was a lot to take in, which led the mild-mannered Campbell to crack slightly in his NBC winner’s interview on the 18th green at Vidanta Vallarta.

“I’m literally freaking out on the inside,” he said. “I have no idea what’s going on.”

Campbell’s sentiment was justified twofold. It was the product of an emotional Sunday overall, trailing Potgieter by one stroke into the final round and gutting out a 1-under 70 that was just enough to force extra holes, as the 20-year-old South African posted even-par 71. Both players finished at 20-under 264, one stroke ahead of rookie Isaiah Salinda, who matched Sunday’s low round at 6-under 65. After making bogey at the long par-4 16th, Campbell flushed a 7-wood to 24 feet for a stress-free, two-putt par at the tough par-3 17th and then got up-and-down from long left of the par-5 18th green, draining a 4-footer for birdie that was enough for extra holes. Both players made par on the first extra hole, also the par-5 18th, setting the stage for the bounce heard ‘round the golf world in the Mexican twilight.

It was also the product of a career that has seen some lean times. For the better part of two-and-a-half years, Campbell said, he dealt with severe pain on his left side that made it difficult to grip a club, practice and put in the necessary overall work to maintain a game fit for the highest level. It started with a leg injury, he said, which moved to his neck and eventually his thumb.

“When you can’t hold onto the club when you’re trying to swing 100 mph, it doesn’t go so well,” he said last fall.

He was initially confused at how to handle the injury, but he saw physical therapists that directed him onto the right path; he realized he needed to get stronger so that his body could withstand the golf swing’s rigors without further aggravation.

“Last year I actually considered (that) maybe I have to stop playing golf,” Campbell said last summer. “It was a point in my life where it hurt to hit a club. I had conditional status, I was doing Monday qualifiers, and it is scary to think about what you’re going to do next when you’ve only played golf your entire life. In that moment, it was a pretty daunting reality check, ‘Maybe I’m not playing golf next year, what else am I going to do?’”

Campbell gutted it out, narrowly keeping full Korn Ferry Tour status at No. 75 on the 2023 season-long standings. He committed to getting stronger and has continued to do so. It led to a sparkling 2024 Korn Ferry Tour campaign with 12 top 25s in 25 starts, including three runner-up finishes, and it led him here.

“It’s not been easy; I’m not going to lie,” Campbell said Sunday. “It’s crazy what can happen when you focus on the right things. … For me specifically, this year was more of a health goal, I was trying to get myself back to 100-percent healthy, strong. As long as I focus on the right things, then good things will happen.”

Campbell grew up in Southern California but in recent years moved to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, to be closer to Kelsi and also grow in the game of golf, exposing himself to different types of grasses and playing styles.

“It was always in the back of my mind to make a big move and change,” he said last fall. “I was happy to do that.”

He began working with instructor Jason Sutton at Colleton River Club and made a point to more frequently reconnect with his college coach Mike Small, a two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner who he credits with cultivating the pro-ready mindset that allowed him to flourish so quickly in his first Korn Ferry Tour stint in 2016.

Campbell spoke throughout the week at Vidanta Vallarta of the desire to stick to his own game, regardless of others in his group. That’s a frequent cliché in professional golf, but it rang true Sunday as Campbell was frequently dozens of yards behind Potgieter off the tee. Ultimately, Campbell’s game was just enough to keep pace – and with a fortunate break in overtime, it was enough to author a life memory.

“Of course it's hard to look at a guy next to you hitting it 60 to 80 yards past you, but you've really just got to stay focused on what you're there to do and do the best you can,” Campbell said Sunday.

The prior evening, Campbell was asked what it meant to be in this position, with the chance to win on the PGA TOUR. He had never recorded a top-10 finish on TOUR, and considering his professional career has spanned nearly a decade, there was no guarantee he would be in this position again. Campbell knew the context, and he didn’t shy away from the stakes.

“It's what dreams are made of,” Campbell said at the time. “This is why I've worked so hard to get back here. It's a blessing to be here this quickly, but I'm just enjoying the moment and going to continue to do what I've been doing this week tomorrow and see where it takes us.”

It took him to the winner’s circle, and it will take him many more places in the game.

PGA TOUR’s Macarena Marañon, Scott Kunath and Elise Tallent contributed to this report.