Campbell halts Aussies rule in Dunhill Masters
Campbell halts Aussies rule in Dunhill Masters
JAKARTA (JP): Seven sizzling birdies and an eagle made a hot day hotter at the Emeralda golf course yesterday and gave New Zealand's Michael Campbell all he needed to snatch victory from the high-riding Australians, in the Alfred Dunhill Masters. Campbell finished with a five stroke lead.
The 26-year-old Maori was the star of the show as he made three birdies against two bogeys to turn in one under-35, before pulling off a string of birdies on the way to the club house at the 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th and an eagle-three at the 536-yard 16th where he struck a magnificent three-wood approach to the green - 10 feet away - and holed the putt.
Campbell's 72-hole aggregate of 267 - 21 under par - in the opening event of the 1995-96 Australasian PGA Tour earned him a check worth US$72,000.
Five shots behind Campbell in joint second place were Australian Craig Parry and Welshman Mark Mouland, who closed yesterday's round with a 69 and 66 respectively for 272.
Parry, leader at the half-way stage, ended with a 3-under 69, including two eagle-threes, while Mouland, tied for fifth overnight, moved into the limelight with an outward nine of 4- under 32 and came home in 34 for 66.
Campbell said the 441-yard par-4 14th was the key to his success. At that stage he was two ahead of Parry, and of Mouland, who was in the group ahead. While Campbell made a birdie-three, Mouland took four and Parry ran up a bogey-five.
Indonesia
"That was an important hole for me. But I played really well on the back nine," said Campbell, who covered that stretch in 6- under 30 in the last two rounds. On both occasions he needed just 12 putts.
Mouland, 34, who - like Campbell - now heads for China for the 41st World Cup of Golf, said of his round: "That's as good as I can play. I thought this was going to be my day. But you can't beat Mr Campbell. He was god here this week."
Indonesia's best hopes, Budiono Kasiyadi -- who made national golfing history by becoming the first local to win the Indonesia Open in 1987 -- Burhan Bora, Ilyasyak and Maan Naasim, were all bunched in the joint 50-plus ranking.
However, their earnings -- more than $1,000 (Rp 2.250 million) each -- were enough for them.
Five eagles were shot down yesterday, proving the claim made by many of the world-class golfers at the US$400,000 event that the course, designed by American golfer Arnold Palmer, was easy to tame.
Parry had his eagle on the par-five eighth, and Robinson, Appleby and Grady all had theirs on the par-five 10th.
Victory was particularly sweet for Campbell, considering that he was down with the flu when he arrived here from Spain on Tuesday and then suffered a setback in Saturday's third round when he was penalized two strokes for grounding his club in a bunker.
Australian Stuart Appleby moved into fourth spot on 275, courtesy of a closing 65, matching the course record set by Parry on Tuesday, and Campbell on Wednesday. (rsl)
Selected final scores:
267 - Michael Campbell (Nzl) 69 65 68 65 272 - Craig Parry (Aus) 66 65 72 69
Mark Mouland (Gbr) 70 67 69 66 275 - Stuart Appleby (Aus) 69 69 72 65 276 - Wayne Grady (Aus) 72 70 68 66 277 - Vijay Singh (Fij) 72 72 67 66 278 - Greg Chalmers (Aus) 68 67 75 68 279 - Rodney Pampling (Aus) 74 70 67 68
Jeev Singh (Ind) 72 66 71 70
Mark Allen (Aus) 69 72 68 70
Gavin Coles (Aus) 71 67 67 74
Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 66 70 69 74 280 - Stephen Leaney (Aus) 70 71 71 68
Gerry Norquist (U.S.) 70 73 68 69
Anthony Painter (Aus) 71 72 66 71 281 - Aaron Byrnes (Aus) 72 71 71 67
Danny Zarate (Phi) 68 71 73 69
Evan Droop (Aus) 68 69 73 71
David Bransdon (Aus) 69 72 68 72 282 - Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 70 70 72 70
Tze-Peng Chang (Tai) 72 70 70 70
Yu-Shu Hsieh (Tai) 70 69 71 72 ... 284 - Ian Woosnam (Gbr) 67 72 68 77 ... 290 - Kasiyadi (Ina) 72 71 72 75
Burhan Bora (Ina) 73 71 71 75 291 - Ilyasyak (Ina) 71 73 71 76
Budiono (Ina) 73 69 69 80 ... 296 - Maan Naasim (Ina) 73 70 76 77