Chad Campbell returns to form for Bay Hill victory
IN: News | US PGA | Bay Hill Invitational (2004) | Wrap | by Bruce Young | 22 Mar 2004
Chad Campbell has rediscovered the form that made him such a huge success on the USPGA Tour in 2003 and he now looks set for an even bigger year in 2004.
His win in today's Bay Hill Invitational presented by MasterCard, confirmed his outstanding potential to not only be a big money winner on tour, but to perhaps take his game to the next level, namely the majors and succeed there. After all if it had not been for a miraculous last hole 7 iron by Shaun Micheel at last year's PGA Championship, we may well have been acclaiming Campbell as a major winner in just his second year on tour, but it was not to be. He did however go on and win close to the next best thing later in the year at the Tour Championship.
The progress Campbell has made has been almost meteoric. A graduate to the Buy.Com Tour in 2001 after prolific success on the Hooter's Tour and narrowly missing his card at the 2000 USPGA Tour Q School, Campbell won three events in his first season on the Buy.Com Tour in 2001, gaining immediate graduation to the USPGA Tour in October of that year and less than a month later he finished second in just his second event with full playing privileges, the Southern Farm Bureau Classic.
In 2002 he secured two top tens and safely kept his card for 2003. 2003 would be something very special with four top tens by the end of March and he would go on to finish the season with one win, three seconds and nearly $US4,000,000. Two perhaps less notable results that shone out to me were his 6th place early in the year at the Players Championship and his 15th place at the British open in his first attempt. At the Players Championship he was eight shots behind the winner Davis Love III but only two behind second place, suggesting that the big events were of little fear to him. His British Open performance told a story of a man who not only had game but who was very adaptable as well, adjusting to a golf course at Royal St Georges that was very foreign to him.
His start to 2004 had been nothing to write home about, but the signs over the last two weeks were encouraging, suggesting that a return to where he left off in 2003 was not too far away. He made the round of 16 at the Accenture Match Play and then last week at the Honda, he put together four solid rounds for his 9th place finish.
Today, starting the last round four behind Appleby, he produced a rock solid, bogey free round of 66 which had him within one at the turn and all tied up after the 12th. Two more birdies would follow but as much as Campbell was solid, Appleby surprisingly fell apart over the closing holes. The Australian dropped four shots in the last five holes and in the end he was fortunate to hang on to second place alone, having to get up and down from 140 metres for a double bogey at the last to avoid sharing second with Scott Verplank and Adam Scott.
It was a rather unusual demise for Appleby who has shown a capacity in the past to front run effectively. It may well be just one of those days for him, but there appeared, in Appleby's game, to be a growing tendency for indecision, more so than I had noticed previously. It may be that this had no bearing on the result but a more decisive approach to his game would work in his favour.
Adam Scott, after two quick birdies to open today, lost his way in the latter part of the front nine but was solid on the run in eventually tying for third with Scott Verplank who continues his fine start to the season, which included a playoff loss to the amazing Parry six iron at Doral. For Scott this was his third top ten in four starts this season and he will be eyeing Augusta in three weeks time as his major short term goal. It was at Augusta in his debut there in 2001 that Scott finished 9th, an outstanding first appearance at the Masters.
Tiger Woods surprised all with his worst placed finish since this very event in 1999. In between times there had been four consecutive victories here but after his opening 67, he never looked like creating the new record of five. Clearly Tiger is struggling with his game and his swing and it will be interesting to see over the next few weeks whether a coach is taken on as part of the Woods entourage. His relationship with Butch Harmon is over it would seem but there are many other fine coaches with whom Woods could no doubt work. He openly admits that he understands his own swing but at his level, a sounding board would not be a bad idea right now.
Of the other Australians apart from Appleby and Scott, Mark Hensby continued his solid start to the year when 15th, Rod Pampling was home in 41 for his 24th place, Aaron Baddeley was 56th and Stephen Leaney 72nd.
The PGA Tour now moves further north in Florida to the Jacksonville area for the Players Championship at the famed Sawgrass.
