Augusta, GA (Sports Network) - Years after being voted by his peers as most likely to break through and win a major, Chad Campbell is still searching for that big victory.
He has collected four wins on the PGA Tour, including the 2003 Tour Championship. That win ranks as his best on tour to this point in his career.
Campbell, who has made the cut at the Masters just twice in five starts, began his round Thursday at Augusta with five straight birdies setting the record for most consecutive birdies to open a round at the Masters.
"Starting the day out with five birdies, I knew I was swinging well and putting it pretty well, so I could be a little bit more aggressive with my irons shots," stated Campbell.
The 34-year-old's birdie run was stopped by a par on the sixth. That was the first of six straight pars Campbell would post. Campbell's par run came to an end after the par-four 11th.
"I had two big saves on 10 and 11," Campbell admitted. "They were par putts of 10 feet or so. That kind of held the round together."
He then started his second birdie run of the day. After a birdie on the par- three 12th, Campbell made it two in a row at the 13th.
Campbell poured in his third straight birdie at the 14th. Campbell sealed the run at 15 with his fourth consecutive birdie. That moved him to minus-nine, where he led by three.
Campbell was also challenging the course record of 63, which Nick Price set in 1986 and Greg Norman matched in 1996.
However, he parred 16, then stumbled to back-to-back bogeys from the 17th. The closing bogeys left him at seven-under 65, but he was still atop the leaderboard.
"I'm a little upset with the way I finished, but I'll go out there Friday and hopefully keep it going," Campbell said. "To be able to be in this situation again, is huge for going into the week. But, this was just the first round so we've got a lot of golf to play."
Campbell easily carded his best career round at Augusta. His previous best was a five-under 67, which he did in 2005 and 2006.
The 65 was by far his lowest opening round in a major. Campbell's best previous start in a major came at the PGA Championship, where he opened with a 69 in 2003 en route to a second-place finish. Prior to this, his best first- round score at Augusta was 71, which he posted in 2006.
Campbell, who shared third place at the Masters that year, has shot lower than 65 16 times on the PGA Tour, including 61s at the Colonial and the Tour Championship.
"I think it does," said Campbell of having the knowledge of what it takes to go low. "Sometimes you get out there and you know you have to keep making birdies and keep playing well."
No comments:
Post a Comment