Kiwi Campbell Captures the U.S. Open
Posted June 19th, 2005 by Erik J. Barzeski
Michael Campbell, who once held the 54-hole lead at a British Open, out-dueled Tiger Woods and a flailing Retief Goosen to capture the 105th U.S. Open.
Many said it was Retief Goosen's U.S. Open to lose, and lose it he did. Opening the day with a three-shot lead, the unassuming South African made one birdie and limped home to a final-round 81. His playing companion, fan favorite Jason Gore, fared no better, carding a +14 84, finishing T49. Olin Browne, who like Gore began the day at even par, carded an 80 to finish T23.
The winner? Little-known New Zealander Michael Campbell. Campbell holed a bunker shot on the difficult 17th hole yesterday to get into the next-to-last pairing at even par and made the most of it today, firing a one-under 69 on a day that yielded only four sub-par rounds.
One of the other sub-par rounds, also a 69, belonged to none other than Tiger Woods. Two early bogeys at the first and second combined with two late bogeys at 16 and 17 cost Woods a chance at this U.S. Open, but Tiger made a charge on a day when nearly everyone else was falling backwards.
Still, all the credit in the world belongs to Michael Campbell, who was last heard of ten years ago when he held the 54-hole lead at the British Open before fading to a 74 and a tie for third. The Kiwi's final-round score of even-par 280 earned him a congratulatory handshake from Tiger's caddie Stevie Williams, a fellow New Zealander, and a two-shot victory in the 105th U.S. Open. Woods' second-place finish is only the second time he's played the bridesmaid at a major.
Pos Player Today Tot R1 R2 R3 R4 Tot 1 Michael Campbell -1 E 71 69 71 69 280 2 Tiger Woods -1 +2 70 71 72 69 282 T3 Sergio Garcia E +5 71 69 75 70 285 T3 Tim Clark E +5 76 69 70 70 285 T3 Mark Hensby +4 +5 71 68 72 74 285 T6 Davis Love III -1 +6 77 70 70 69 286 T6 Rocco Mediate +1 +6 67 74 74 71 286 T6 Vijay Singh +2 +6 70 70 74 72 286 T9 Nick Price +2 +7 72 71 72 72 287 T9 Arron Oberholser +3 +7 76 67 71 73 287 T11 Bob Estes E +8 70 73 75 70 288 T11 Corey Pavin +3 +8 73 72 70 73 288 T11 Peter Hedblom +5 +8 77 66 70 75 288 T11 Retief Goosen +11 +8 68 70 69 81 288
Photo Credit: © AP.
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Posted 19 Jun 2005 at 9:57pm #
I wanna know what goes through the mind of the director of the ABC coverage of the event.
He was right to keep the focus on Tiger and Cambo (Aussies always claim Kiwis as their own when they are successful), but I only saw one shot of Mark Hensby on the back nine. No wonder people are saying "Mark Who?" - he finishes T3 and still can't get any love on the coverage.
We got Sergio's flourishing finish and Vijay's last couple and an awful lot of Rocco Mediate for some reason. Retief was forgotten about by the closing stages, but surely that was one of the main stories of the day and deserved a bit more time.
I am told that Campbell and Williams are from the same area of N.Z. - hence the highly affectionate display (by Williams' standards anyway).
Posted 19 Jun 2005 at 10:06pm #
I disagree that Retief's collapse was worthy of much coverage on the back nine, but I'll agree with you on Hensby. He was pretty close, and started the day quite nicely, and his own collapse was nowhere near Goosen-like in its breadth or depth.
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