Shootout: Chad Campbell is really cookin'

Chad Campbell might be the exception.

This summer, at the PGA Championship, the Texas native burst onto the national scene.

Campbell ended up being the runner-up but his battle down the backstretch at Oak Hill Country Club with the winner Shaun Micheel caused golf fans to sit up and notice.

"It's kind of funny. You usually don't remember who finishes second," Campbell said. "A year or two goes by, it will probably be the same way. Hopefully, I would have done a few more things to be remembered by than finishing second at the PGA."

This week at the Franklin Templeton Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club, Campbell again will be constantly reminded of the PGA. His partner is none other than Micheel.

"I think it's great that we are playing together," Campbell said.

"I was so excited to be in this tournament and to find out that I was playing with Shaun was great."

Campbell has already started escaping Micheel's shadow and etching his own legacy.

Last week, at The Tour Championship in Houston, the 29-year-old picked up his first career PGA Tour victory. Campbell said getting that first win in Texas, with his friends and family in the gallery, made it even more special.

"I worked so hard to get that win and I had a lot of chances through the year and really didn't made it even more special.

"I worked so hard to get that win and I had a lot of chances through the year and really didn't pull them off," Campbell said.

"One good chance at the PGA and Shaun played awesome and was able to win that. But once I finally won it's such a great feeling. It was a great ending to the year."

Campbell is no stranger to winning.

After graduating from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in 1996, Campbell started his professional career on the Hooters Tour, where he won 13 times in four years. In 2001, on the Nationwide Tour, Campbell won three times and earned a "promotion" to the PGA Tour.

The promotion was Campbell's "Get out of jail free card."

He had been to the PGA Qualifying School five times, and never earned his card.

"I wouldn't change the way I got here at all," Campbell said. "I had a lot of success out there but couldn't get through the Tour School and, yeah, it was frustrating at times."

Once on Tour, Campbell immediately impressed.

After a poll of his fellow-players, Sports Illustrated tabbed him, "The Next Big Thing in Golf." Campbell hasn't disappointed. He finished seventh on the year-end money list with $3,312,064. His $1,080,000 payday last week had a few more zeros than the check from his first win -- $15,000 at the Sikeston, Mo., Hooters' tournament.

His former college teammate and fellow Tour player, Chris Riley, knew that it was just a matter of time before Campbell starting dominating at this level.

"He's dominated every level he's played," Riley told the Houston Chronicle. "He dominated college, he dominated the Hooters Tour, he dominated the Nationwide Tour, and now he's out here dominating this tour. He's a top-tier player, and it's fun to see that."

Big paydays and success hasn't changed Campbell, either. Riley said he's still the same low-key guy that orders cheeseburgers plain with nothing but meat and cheese.

Micheel said he's happy that his partner doesn't need ketchup or mustard. Micheel says he's much the same -- quiet and down-to-earth -- and that combination will make the two a formidable team.

"He's just a real quiet, unassuming type of guy and he lets his clubs kind of do the talking for him," Micheel said. "He's a pretty quiet, unassuming guy. I think we both are. I think this event we're going to complement each other well."