Jorge Campillo (+6) has played under par for the first time in a Major today. He achieved it on his thirteenth attempt. Until today at Royal Troon, his best round in a Major had been the 70 on the second day at Royal St George’s in 2021. This Friday he scored 68. However, it seems that it will be insufficient to achieve his real goal this week: to make the cut. At least, and it’s not a small thing, he has given himself a chance, although at the time of writing this chronicle everything points to the cut with the first 70 and tied will be set at +5 at the end of the day.
Is it enough consolation to have delivered his best result in a Major? Probably not, and he is right to be ambitious and not to settle only with this, but the reality is that today he has conquered a first hill that until now had been inaccessible for him. It’s not much, it might be. But it’s not little. And less for a player like Campillo.
It is known that the Extremaduran has his times. He may take longer than others to reach the peaks, but when he arrives, he stays. It is not unreasonable, even if he ends up missing the cut, to think that today in Troon can and should be a turning point. He would do well to see the glass half full. Today he is going to be one of the best surrounded by the best. Few are going to beat him in this round. It is true that yesterday, as he himself remembered with his crushing realism, he beat very few players with his round of 80 strokes, but he must decide what to keep. Clearly, in view of his career, yesterday’s 80 is much more of an accident than today’s 68. This is the version closest to Campillo and it is very positive that he has managed to bring it out, even if it is on a day when there was little to lose, it is true.
Jorge scored 68 strokes with four birdies and one bogey, putting really well, finally managing to bring the good feelings he had in practice sessions with Mike Kanski to the golf course, to the competition. “I can’t remember the last time I was positive in the strokes gained statistic with the putt,” he says. It is also worth noting that he shot for birdie, from more or less close, on five of his last eight holes. He has given himself a chance. The clearest was on the 16th, with a putt of just under three metres.
The most normal thing is that Campillo does not make the cut, although we will have to cross our fingers in case the +6 comes in. What there is no doubt about is that he has come closer than ever to overcoming it in the next Major he plays.
