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Monday, October 01, 2007

Campbell wins Viking Classic by 1 stroke   Send a link to a friend

[October 01, 2007]  MADISON, Miss. (AP) -- Chad Campbell righted his listing game Sunday with a one-stroke victory over Johnson Wagner in the Viking Classic, making two birdies on his last three holes to win.

Campbell was among six golfers who held or were tied for the lead Sunday at Annandale Golf Club. He finished with a 3-under-par 69 -- the only member of that group under 70 -- to win after trailing two-day leader David Branshaw by three strokes entering the final round. Branshaw was done in by a double bogey.

"I wasn't doing anything very well to be honest with you," Campbell said of his season, which included just 13 rounds under 70 coming into the tournament. "At times I'd drive good, at times I'd putt good. But I never put everything together for 18 holes. I was just trying to figure out what I was doing well. This week it just clicked."

Wagner, a PGA Tour rookie seeking his first win, briefly held the lead but dropped out of contention when he made bogey on the 17th hole. He birdied 18 to take second alone at 12 under, however, and his $378,000 paycheck should earn him his tour card next season.

Campbell, now a four-time tour winner, earned $630,000 of the $3.5 million purse.

Bill Haas, who was second coming into the final round, finished tied for third at 11 under with Boo Weekley, who shot 70.

Branshaw finished tied for fifth after a 2-over 74 left him at 10 under with Shaun Micheel and John Senden. He had three bogeys in the final round after making just one through the first 54 holes. Sunday marked the first time he held the lead entering the final round of the tournament.

The tournament wasn't decided until the final two holes. Shaun Micheel trailed Campbell by a stroke at 12 under, but a double bogey after hitting water on 17 dropped him into a tie for fifth with John Senden and David Branshaw at 11 under.

Three others tied for eighth at 9 under.

Haas, who was in second after three rounds, also had his run at the championship end on a double bogey. He put his drive in the rough on the par-4 No. 13, then hit his next two shots 50 and 60 yards, never leaving the tall grass.

Campbell shot a third-round 64 and said he's been working hard to get his game back in shape late this season after a wobbly start that left him 82nd on the money list coming into the Viking Classic.

He had just one top 10 finish, at the World Golf Championship-Accenture Match Play Championship where he was fourth, and four top 25 finishes. The win jumps him over the $1.5 million mark this year, but he's still short of his goal.

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The Colleyville, Texas, resident would like to finish in the top 30 as he has in each of his previous four seasons on tour, but needs more than $400,000 in his final two tournaments to reach that goal.

Campbell first took the lead Sunday with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 10 and 11. He made a 22-foot putt on the par-4 10th, then hit to within 3 feet on the par-5 11th to move to 13 under. He briefly reached 14 under on the 17th hole, but bogeyed 18.

The win was his 15th top-three performance since joining the tour, but his first top 50 finish since the Travelers Championship on June 24. He thinks the win at Annandale may be the start of a turnaround.

"I think I just kind of changed my attitude toward the game," he said.

Wagner, a tour rookie who earned his card by finishing second on the Nationwide Tour money list last year, suffered through a terrible drought midway through the season.

After his best career finish, tied for ninth at the Shell Houston Open where he set the third-day tournament record with a 64, Johnson struggled through a string of 13 missed cuts in 14 appearances, including nine straight.

The dry period lasted nearly four months. His one finish during that stretch was tied for 64 at the Buick Open.

But he began to turn things around at the Reno-Tahoe Open in August after deciding he was trying to hard.

He started relaxing and finished 12th in Tahoe. He followed that by finishing tied for 20th at the Wyndham Championship, then earned $109,200 at the Turning Stone Resort Championship last week, when he tied for 13th. That bounced him to 123rd on the money list.

He said confidence has helped him turn his game around.

"That's all it ever is with me," Wagner said. "I finally started believing that I deserve to be out here and I'm playing like it, so it's nice."

[Associated Press; by Chris Talbott]

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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