Michael Campbell leads Target World Challenge

Michael Campbell has been waiting for a feeling like this, when the fairways appear twice as wide, the hole looks like a bucket and golf seems like the easiest game he ever played.

He last experienced this nirvana in the final round at Pinehurst No. 2 when he won the U.S. Open.

All it brought him Thursday was a 9-under 63 at Sherwood Country Club and a two-stroke lead over Darren Clarke in the first round of the Target World Challenge, a 16-man tournament that only counts at the bank.

But he'll take it.

Campbell made five straight birdies while playing an eight-hole span in 8 under, his round only ruined on the final hole when his 5-iron went over the green and he misread the par putt. That kept him from breaking the course record, although his disappointment didn't last long.

"Maybe tomorrow," he said.

Clarke was on the same wave, just not as long. He made two eagles on his first five holes and was 7 under through 13 holes before closing with pars for a 65. He also was thrilled, for no other reason that it was the first time in three years at Tiger Woods' tournament that he has broken 70.

"Usually, par for me on Thursday here is 82," Clarke said.

Woods was a gracious host by missing a slew of putts and having to hit one shot left-handed from under tree on his way to an even-par 72. Woods thought scores would be higher than usual because the rough is so thick, and he was surprised to see Campbell's string of birdies and record-tying score.

"He'll probably say this is the easiest golf course he's ever seen," Woods said.

Close.

Campbell attributes his great year to a better attitude, learning to think positive to the point where he thanks his bed each morning for a good night of sleep. His coach, Jonathan Yarwood, is at Sherwood and they worked out some kinks in his swing, which freed up his mind. Plus, he shot a 65 in the pro-am on Wednesday.

"I walked on the first tee this morning and felt great about me as a person and my golf game, and everything seemed easy," he said. "Every shot that I hit was pretty good, I just felt like I could do it over and over again."

The floodgates opened at No. 7, the hole with a massive rock in the middle of the fairway. In Campbell's case, that must have looked twice as small. He hit a wedge into 2 feet for birdie, then hit 3-iron to 25 feet on the par-3 eighth and made that, then a 20-footer on No. 9.

"Just kept on going and going and going," he said. "It was like, 'OK, Michael, don't try to change anything, just go with flow. Don't try to think about anything else.' The hardest thing as human beings is to stop searching. I'm trying to stop searching right now because I've got the answer that works for me."

He found something at Pinehurst, where the 36-year-old from New Zealand held off a late charge by Woods to win the U.S. Open. Campbell also sailed through the HSBC World Match Play Championship, another big win.

The trick now is to capture that feeling more often.

David Toms experienced it at the Accenture Match Play Championship at La Costa, when he mowed down everyone he played on his way to his first World Golf Championship title. Phil Mickelson was atop the leaderboard for 10 consecutive rounds of stroke play earlier this year. Woods knows it better than most.

"Tiger seems to find that sense of confidence all the time," Campbell said. "We try to achieve that every time we play, but it doesn't come to us that easily. We can all do certain things with the golf ball. It comes down to talent, obviously, and mind-set -- how strong you are mentally."

Clarke is strong in other ways right now.

His wife, Heather, has been battling cancer for the last three years, and is in London going through chemotherapy again. Clarke pulled out of the U.S. Open when she took a turn for the worse, and plays now only because it doesn't do either of them any good for him to stay at home.

It helps to play well.

"If I'm playing OK, then I can focus on what I'm doing," he said. "If not, then my mind wanders."

Clarke opened with a birdie, then hit 4-iron to about 25 feet on the par-5 second hole, and made an eagle putt from below the ridge. Three holes later from the left rough, he hammered a 5-wood to the back of the green and holed a 60-foot putt for eagle.

"Any time you have a problem off the course, you can find sanctuary on it," Woods said of Clarke, one of his best friends on tour. "What he's going through, I wouldn't wish on anybody."

Padraig Harrington, who won this event two years ago, shot a 68 and Kenny Perry had a 69. Only three other players in the 16-man field broke 70, with Davis Love III and Colin Montgomerie bringing up the rear at 76. David Toms, in his first tournament since surgery to repair an electrical problem in his heart, had a 73.

Michael Campbell 32-31-63
Darren Clarke 31-34-65
Padraig Harrington 36-32-68
Kenny Perry 34-35-69
Thomas Bjorn 33-37-70
Fred Couples 35-36-71
Tim Clark 35-36-71
Chris DiMarco 35-37-72
Fred Funk 38-34-72
Luke Donald 38-34-72
Tiger Woods 38-34-72
David Howell 37-35-72
David Toms 37-36-73
Jim Furyk 38-35-73
Davis Love III 35-41-76
Colin Montgomerie 39-37-76

December 9, 2005

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