Campbell returns to best at Viking Classic
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2007 Viking Classic | Round Four | 01 Oct 2007
Campbell’s win at this week’s Viking Classic in Madison, Mississippi was not only his first since February of 2006 but it reversed a run of form in 2007 that has seen only one top ten and a series of recent events where his best finish in his last eight starts had been 54th. That finish had come in New York where a first round of 65 gave Campbell back some of the confidence he had lost this season.
Chad Campbell’s return to the winner’s circle is a welcome boost not only for the man himself but for the PGA Tour.
“Once you think you got it, you know, it goes away from you,” he said. “You’ve just got to keep working hard. It’s not like I stopped working hard. It’s just I don’t know what has happened. This year has just kind of been a little bit of an off year. And I’ve been working probably extra hard. It’s tough when you’re not playing up to your expectations and my expectations for me exceed everyone else’s.”
The only other occasion in which Campbell had played this event was in the season before his near miss at the PGA Championship in 2003 but this week he found that special ingredient he was looking for to put it all back together. Campbell’s third round of 64 was what turned his week around and to a large extent may have turned his career around. It moved him into a share of third place three behind the leader, David Branshaw.
As Branshaw fell away early in the final round, the tournament developed into a battle between, Campbell, rookie Johnson Wagner, and Bill Haas but crucial and timely birdies at the 16th and 17th gave Campbell a two shot advantage playing the last hole of the day. A bogey at the last reduced the margin to just one but he had done enough to defeat Wagner with Haas in a share of third place with Boo Weekly.
Wagner has played well in recent weeks but his cheque this week has assured him of status in 2008.
The best of the Australians was again John Senden who, in what is his last event of the 2007 USPGA Tour season, has finished 5th following a third place last week in New York, taking his season’s earnings to a personal record of US$1,899,000.
Nick Flanagan had another good week following his 18th place last week. He finished 17th, a position he shared with Mark Hensby. Michael Sim was 22nd, Andrew Buckle and Steve Elkington 39th, Gavin Coles 59th and Mathew Goggin 64th.
The USPGA Tour will now play the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.
