Campbell will play for the title Sunday against 11th-seeded Paul McGinley of Ireland, who defeated second-seeded Angel Cabrera of Argentina 4 and 3.

Goosen did not have a birdie in the first 11 holes as his bid for the first prize of $1.8 million – the biggest in golf – vanished. After two matches, he had been a combined 17 under after playing 54 holes. Campbell was 2 under after 73.

“I played terrible,” Goosen said. “I just didn’t make a putt and was wayward off the tee and missed a lot of fairways. Michael got on a roll at the start, but if I had played a bit of a game out there it would have been nice.”

The South African had beaten Kenneth Ferrie 9 and 8 and Mark Hensby by a record-tying 12 and 11 in his first two matches.

Campbell had a tougher time in the early rounds, needing 37 holes to beat Steve Elkington on Friday. He looked good Saturday, though.

“This morning I came up strong,” the New Zealander said.

His eagle at the fourth was conceded and his three birdies came on putts of 6, 20 and 7 feet.

“I knew I had to play well today,” Campbell said. “I enjoyed beating the two-time U.S. Open champion. But I have another job tomorrow. … I just have to recharge the batteries.”

Goosen won the 17th with a birdie but Campbell restored his five-hole lead with a birdie at the 531-yard 18th and kept the pressure on after the break. Campbell made four more birdies before finishing with a par at the 30th.

“Retief’s a good friend of mine and a great player,” Campbell said. “But he didn’t really fire at all today.”

AP-ES-09-17-05 1143EDT


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.