Monday, February 24th, 2025 Balls & Bogeys Golf News Edition

Buena Suerte: Brian Campbell wins Mexican Open in a playoff via a healthy dose of grit and good luck

– by Shane Ryan / Golf Digest

Per Shane: “Thankfully for Brian Campbell, the optimistic golfer’s adage that trees are 90 percent air was not proved right late Sunday at Vidanta Vallarta…”

B&B POV: American Brian Campbell won the PGA TOUR Mexican Open yesterday in a playoff over Aldrich Potgieter, a 20-year-old, cherubic, long-bombing South African golf prodigy. Unless you are a crazed fan of professional golf, like most, you’ve likely never heard of either of these guys before. Or, at least Campbell. Our two biggest takeaways from watching the tournament:

Brian Campbell blocked his drive a country mile right on the 2nd sudden-death playoff hole. For a good 3-5 seconds, he knew he had lost the playoff and a chance for victory – that’s how far right he had missed it. However, the Dude must hail from Irish blood because his drive hit a tree limb and jetted 90 degrees to the left back into play. Wow. Top 10 luckiest breaks in golf, ever.

Potgieter has the potential to be a golf superstar.

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Lucas Glover rips PGA Tour leadership: ‘Why have a board? Why even have a PAC?’

– by Adam Schupak / Golfweek

Per Adam: “The Lucas Glover Show quickly is becoming a must-listen on SiriusXM for his willingness to speak his mind. As Johnson Wagner put it, “I like when you rile people too. I’m getting pretty good at that myself…”

B&B POV: There are many things we like about Lucas Glover. Since Lucas plays in Tiger’s and Rory’s TGL sim league on ESPN, we assume those guys like him, too. He plays with no glove. He sweats like a real man. He carries himself like he’d beat up the bully in a bar fight. And he unabashedly voices his opinions about tour matters, many of which run counter to his current position on the dais as the 41st player in the world. He’ll rip policy that directly benefits him. We see what you’re doing, Lucas, and we like it!

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What’s in the Bag: Brian Campbell, 2025 Mexico Open

– by Thomas Hamden / Balls & Bogeys

Per Thomas: With 100% confidence, I can tell you that Brian Campbell’s finest professional golf accomplishment came yesterday after winning the PGA TOUR Mexico Open in a playoff. And it wasn’t even close. You see, Brian is a Ping “staffer,” and receives a modest endorsement check from them to play their gear and sport their logo on his hat and bag. Did this victory catch Ping by surprise? Uh, yes. We just peeped his Ping ambassador profile page, and under highlights, it only lists one bullet: ‘Five victories as an amateur.” That’s thinner than thin. Maybe later today they’ll update it to have two bullets.

Campbell’s Golf Gear

DRIVER: Ping G440 LST (10.5 degrees), with Mitsubishi Diamana GT60 shaft

FAIRWAY WOOD: Ping G430 LST – ON SALE (15 degrees), with Fujikura Ventus Blue 7X shaft, (20 degrees), with Fujikura Ventus Blue TR 8 X shaft

IRONS: Ping Blueprint S (4-PW) with KBS Tour 130 X shafts

WEDGES: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52 degrees), with KBS Tour 130 X, (56, 60 degrees), with True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 shafts

PUTTER: Redwood Anser 2 putter

BALL: Titleist Pro V1x

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PAYDAY! The 2025 Mexico Open Winners & Losers

– by Thomas Hamden / Balls & Bogeys

Per Thomas: Even though Brian Campbell took home $1.26M for his win yesterday in the Mexico Open, he might want to buy a lottery ticket after his absurdly lucky break on his way to winning in extra time.

Standing on the 18th tee for the third time in about an hour, Campbell took his swing—only to watch his golf ball veer off course like a rogue shopping cart with a broken wheel. His drive struck awkwardly off the heel, took a hard right turn mid-air, and was last seen hurtling it’s way back to the states.

On the PGA Tour broadcast, on-course analyst Smylie Kaufman immediately clocked the disaster, noting how low and right the shot was going. That was quickly followed by a concerned, “This is dicey!” as the ball torpedoed toward a leafy demise.

Enter Notah Begay III, who stated the obvious: Campbell’s ball was “going to need a good bounce…”

And just like that, the golf gods delivered.

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Tour Confidential: LIV-PGA Tour harmony, golf’s rising stars, best course logos

– by GOLF Editors / GOLF

Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss what the future of men’s pro golf might look like, Tour young guns and the best golf-club logos.

B&B POV:

All professional sports leagues have all-star weekends, should the PGA TOUR? No. We are just holding out for the reincarnation of the Skins Game featuring LPGA star Charley Hull grippin’, rippin’, and dartin’, while forcing into submission whoever the PGA TOUR throws out there to compete against her.
What do DOGE, tariffs, and the PGA TOUR/PIF riff all have in common? #47 is shaking things up and making sure we are paying attention. Let’s goooo!
Will President Trump’s influence over PGA TOUR/PIF’s negotiations lead to the reunification of men’s professional golf? At least for the foreseeable future, the PGA TOUR and LIV will operate independently from one another. However, the more that Trump stays active in the matter, the greater the likelihood that the best players will tee it up against one another more frequently than they do now. Major circuit changes won’t happen until 2027 or 2028, but we fully expect to see a co-sanctioned breakout series of events contested by the best players in the world starting as early as Q4 ’25/Q1 ’26.
Is Aldrich Potgieter the best young professional golfer in the world? No. We’re stamping that title on the Big Swede. But the cherubic South African is a ridiculous talent. When he improves his short game similarly to how Victor Hovland did a few years back, he’ll start stacking wins together and possibly give Ludvig a run at the subjective title of the best of the next.

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