The Punter's De-brief: Rory and Rafael claim the spoils

• Rory triumphs again to earn Seve comparisons

• Campos keeps his cool to win in Bermuda

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Having been a well backed 4/15.00 favourite before the off, Rory McIlroy was matched at odds-on to win the DP World Tour Championship as early as Friday - hitting 1.738/11 after his fourth birdie of the day in round two at the par five seventh hole.

He played his next 10 holes in two-over-par par and France's Antoine Rozner led at halfway, one clear of McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton.

Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard made the big early move in round three and after an entertaining day's play, where we all witnessed a heated Hatton throw his toys out of the pram in embarrassing fashion, Rozner, Rasmus and Rory were tied at the top with a round to go. Nobody else got a look in after that.

The Frenchman led by two when his birdie three at the first was followed by bogeys by Hojgaard and McIlroy but Rory soon took charge after that, birdying the second, third, fourth and fifth to lead by two.

Having begun the day trading at 2.447/5, and having spiked to above 5/23.50 after his five at the first, Rory was matched at just 1.232/9 after the birdie at five was followed by a bogey at six for Rozner. Rory's lead stretched to three but long odds-on backers didn't have a straightforward journey to the payout window.

Rory missed a four-footer for birdie at the par five seventh, a hole at which Rasmus and Rozner both made fours, but the Frenchman made a mess of the tough par four ninth, recording a double-bogey six. We were left with a two-man tussle after that.

Bogeys by Rory at nine and 13 saw him and Rasmus tied with five to play and Hojgaard hit a low of 1.8910/11 in-running. After neither man had managed to pick up a stroke at the par five 14^th or the short par four 15^th, Rory went back in front following this brilliant approach at 16.

Step up Rory McIlroy

He moves one shot ahead with two holes to play.#DPWTC | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/ZLp3rVbJp4

-- DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 17, 2024

As he'd done at the 10^th hole, Hojgaard made a remarkable par save at 17 to keep the deficit to just one and his birdie putt at 18 missed by a minute margin. Rory popped in his birdie putt from six feet to win by two.

It was Rory's third DP World Tour Championship win, his third Race To Dubai victory in-a-row, his sixth in total and it avenged his defeat to Rasmus at the Irish Open in July.

I really don't enjoy the way they wrap up the DP World Tour. Rory wins the Race to Dubai yet again, despite rarely playing in regular events on the Tour, and he's compared to Seve Ballesteros, who won the old Order of Merit six times.

The way prize money is now weighted so heavily in favour of certain events, and the introduction of the cash bloated Rolex Series, I'm far from convinced you can compare Rory's six titles with Seve's six. Handing out 10 PGA Tour cards to the up-and-coming stars of the DP World Tour, based on how high they finish on the Race to Dubai, only serves to weaken the Tour for the following season. But it is what it is.

And anyway, we didn't have to wait very long for a story so heartwarming that the glittering gluttony of Dubai was soon forgotten when pre-event 600.0599/1 chance, Rafael Campos, somehow got across the line in Bermuda after a quite incredible week.

Campos remains calm to claim remarkable win

Campos' wife had given birth to their first child, a daughter, on Monday, so he didn't get to Bermuda until late on Wednesday night.

Having missed his last four cuts, the 36-year-old Puerto Rican was languishing in 147^th place on the FedEx Cup standings. That's some way short of the top 125 finish required after this week's RSM Classic to retain playing privileges for next season.

As highlighted in the In-Play Blog, I was aware of his ability to handle the predicted blustery conditions and backed Campos at 150.0149/1 at halfway before he hit the front following a sensational nine-under-par 62 in round three. But he still had plenty to do on Sunday.

Pre-event 42.041/1 chance, Andrew Novak, who like Campos sat tied for 10th and five off the lead at halfway, was the man the market favoured after 54 holes. The pair led pre-event 38.037/1 shot, Justin Lower, by a stroke and the remainder by three. That trio dominated the market throughout round four.

Lower was the first to make a move, birdying the opening hole and he was matched as low as 1.84/5 before his chance was dramatically derailed with a four-putt double-bogey five at the par three eighth.

Novak hit a low of 2.546/4 after he and Campos turned for home tied at the top, but Campos birdied 10 and 11 to establish a two-stroke lead before Novak missed a tiny par save at 11 to hand the initiative firmly to Campos.

After Lower and Novak both missed tiny putts in the tricky conditions, Campos trumped them both with this crazy miss at the 14^th.

There are no gimmes on the PGA TOUR.

Rafa Campos' lead is down from 3 to 2. pic.twitter.com/0jwSMrpe8j

-- PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 17, 2024

That saw his cushion reduced from three strokes to two, but he put the mishap behind him immediately, parring 15 and 16 before birdying the par five 17th and parring the last to win by three.

With top three finishes in the Puerto Rico Open and the Corales Puntacana Championship, Campos had performed well in a couple of events I'd highlighted before the off as correlating nicely. At 147 in the FedEx Cup Standings, he came into the event in the exact same place in the standings as last year's winner, Camillo Vilegas.

It was slightly frustrating not to have heard about the birth of his daughter on Monday- I'm a big fan of the Nappy Factor - and he would have been a Find Me a 100 Winner pick before the off given he was an experienced player just outside the top-125 with form at the correct courses.

I suspect he's already back home and happy that he doesn't need to play in the RSM Classic - the last counting event in the Fall Series.

Having backed Villegas before the off last year at 160.0159/1 and Campos at halfway at 150.0149/1, the Bermuda Classic is one I'll look forward to next year. The overriding memory from this weekend for me is how brilliantly Campos kept his composure.

It staggers me every time how some of these pros can play so well with so much on the line and Campos was understandably emotional after the win.

"I can't believe this is happening to me." @RafaCamposGolf was overcome with emotion after his first TOUR win @Bermuda_Champ. pic.twitter.com/GlKXjhyzqb

-- PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 17, 2024

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