Pampling holds off Cejka to claim win

Australia's Rod Pampling held off a strong challenge from Alex Cejka to win the International on Sunday after eagling the 17th hole to finish two points ahead of the German.

Pampling finished with 31 points to clinch his first victory on the PGA Tour, with Cejka second on 29 points.

Tom Pernice Jr was third with 27 points, with Duffy Waldorf fourth on 26 and Jay Haas fifth another point back.

The International uses a modified Stableford format that awards points for under-par scores and deducts points for scores over par.

A double-eagle is worth eight points, an eagle five points and a birdie two points. A bogey subtracts one point and double-bogey three points. Pars are worth no points.

Cejka, seeking his first win in the United States, had birdied the par-five 17th to take a three-point lead over Pampling, who was playing in the group immediately behind.

After hitting the longest drive of the day at the 17th, 306 yards and in the middle of the fairway, Pampling hit his seven-iron approach pin high and on the fringe on the right-hand side of the green.

From 21 feet, he putted the ball into the heart of the cup for a five-point eagle and a two-point lead.

"I feel I had the putt in the practice round," Pampling said.

"I knew it broke a lot and it was a matter of getting the speed right. I knew the break. It all feeds straight toward the hole.

"It was a nice one, it kind of funnelled towards the hole. It was a thrill."

Cejka found the green at the 18th, but his bid for a tying birdie putt ran three feet past the hole.

Pampling again split the fairway at the 18th, then hit his approach to the middle of the green. Needing only to three-putt to win, the Australian instead took only two and picked up a winner's cheque worth $900,000.

Pampling's two-point victory only emphasised Cejka's miscue at the par-three 16th, when he double bogeyed by missing a three-foot putt.

Cejka had hit a six-iron off the tee far to the right. A good second shot left him with 20 feet to the hole. After putting to three-feet, however, his bogey putt spun out of the hole and the double bogey cost three points.

"We had a little bit into the wind, and I was standing there with a six-iron and I tried to hit it a little bit lower and just got ahead of it and it went way right," Cejka said.

"I just tried to hit it on the green and two-putt, what I almost did, but I three-putted there."

No player was able to make much of a move on Sunday, with the exception of Waldorf, who gained eight points and jumped from a tie for 19th to fourth.

Pampling gained only two points, while Cejka and Pernice had only one.

"It was a crazy day," Cejka said.

"Nobody made a big move in the beginning. We all stayed there, and then I took the lead somewhere on the back nine a little bit and I thought I threw it away on the 16th.

"I birdied 17 and looked at the scoreboard and was still up. It looked pretty good but I was beaten by a great eagle.

"Crazy things happen in this tournament."

Tim Petrovic, Stewart Cink and Chris DiMarco tied for sixth with 24 points, while European Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer, Sweden's Mathias Gronbert and Boby Tway tied for ninth on 23 points.

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