Jorge Campillo, the eighth passenger

Forty years and a day ago, the American David Edwards pulled a Hideki Matsuyama. He went out to play the final round of the Los Angeles Open at Riviera Country Club two strokes behind the leaders, handed in a stratospheric card of seven under par and ended up winning the tournament with a three-shot lead over the second place. Edwards only won three times in his career on the PGA Tour, but he showed a great taste in choosing the venues. He added the Memorial and the Heritage to the Los Angeles Open. Tradition.

Edwards, as far as we know, has little to do with Jorge Campillo, the real protagonist of the story. Let’s say he was just passing by… From that week in February 1984, the person who really interests us is Severiano Ballesteros. Probably without knowing it, the Cantabrian golfer was making (yes, again) history of Spanish golf.

That tournament was the first he ever played as a member of the American circuit. Pay close attention to the nuance: as a member of the American circuit. Seve, between Majors and regular tournaments, before that date in Los Angeles, had already played 44 official PGA Tour tournaments, but until that year he did not decide to register as a member. In fact, that was practically the only year in which he made use of the American card.

This Thursday, forty years and six days after Seve did, Jorge Campillo will make his debut as a member of the PGA Tour. It will be 2,500 kilometers south of Riviera Country Club, at Vidanta Vallarta, on the first day of the Mexico Open. The Extremaduran will officially become the eighth Spanish golfer to play on the PGA Tour as a member. The eighth passenger.

The alien reference is apt (In Spain the film Alien was called Alien, the eighth passenger). Even today, you have to be almost a bit of an extraterrestrial to be Spanish and have the PGA Tour card. Only eight have achieved it in the 55 years of history of the American circuit. They are the chosen ones.

Since Seve joined the Stars and Stripes Tour, it took 16 years for the next Spaniard to arrive. Here they came in droves. Three at once. José María Olazábal, Miguel Ángel Jiménez and Sergio García debuted their PGA Tour card in 2000. All of them had already played tournaments on this circuit, but it was that year when they did so as members for the first time and this is officially reflected by the American tour.

The next to arrive was Gonzalo Fernández Castaño, who made his debut as a member in 2013, while Jon Rahm did so in 2016 and Rafa Cabrera Bello just a year later, in 2017. Now, seven years after Rafa, another Spaniard debuts with the PGA Tour card in his pocket. No one should doubt that it should be seen as an event and all honors should be given to Campillo.

Here is a chart with the trajectory of Spanish golf on the PGA Tour so far. These are official data extracted from the American circuit itself:

The historical review of Spanish golfers on the PGA Tour offers some really curious data. Rahm, until his departure to LIV Golf, had played exactly the same number of tournaments as Severiano Ballesteros, and two less than Miguel Ángel Jiménez.

As for earnings, he came very close to surpassing Sergio García, with the difference that the golfer from Barrika had only been there for seven years, while Sergio was there for 22 until his departure to LIV. Jon will still be able to surpass Sergio in this specific area through the Majors, at least until an agreement is reached between the American circuit and the PIF. Obviously, the equality between Sergio and Jon, beyond the good results of the Basque player, is a clear demonstration of the extraordinary increase that prizes have experienced in the last two decades. This same phenomenon is seen in Seve’s earnings.

To date, Campillo has played a total of 14 official PGA Tour tournaments. Interestingly, the first of his life was also in Mexico, specifically at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in 2010. His best result to date has been a 27th place at the WGC Mexico Championship, in Chapultepec. It seems obvious that there is a connection between Mexico, Campillo and the PGA Tour.

The eighth passenger enters the action.