By Larry Bohannan
PGATOUR.com Contributor

PALM DESERT, Calif. -- Nearly two years after winning his last PGA TOUR title, Chad Campbell said he learned something about himself in winning the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

“I think more than anything, just the ability for me to go out there and grind it out and mentally stay in the game,” Campbell said after a 1-under 71 on a breezy Classic Club Sunday.

Campbell, who had experienced several near-misses since his last win at the 2004 Bay Hill Invitational, completed a near wire-to-wire performance in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic on Sunday. Leading at the end of the last four days of the five-day event, Campbell finished at 25-under 335, three shots better than Jesper Parnevik and Scott Verplank.

Like many on the day, Parnevik and Verplank came close to Campbell throughout the day, Verplank even tying for the lead twice. But a clutch putter and a key bogey save on the par-4 13th allowed Campbell to retain the lead. Verplank and Parnevik then made critical bogeys in the closing holes to let Campbell extend his lead.

Campbell was on the verge of losing his lead when he hit a tee shot into a lake on the par-4 13th, then hit his second tee shot into a deep fairway bunker. But a 6-iron from 143 yards into the wind landed just six feet from the cup, and Campbell made the putt for a bogey to keep a one-shot lead.

“I think that kind of saved the round and gave me a little momentum,” Campbell said. I was able to make a couple of birdies coming down the stretch.”

The birdies at the 14th and 15th holes pushed Campbell to 25 under. Pars on the closing three holes in increasingly strong wins at the Classic Club gave Campbell the win and the $900,000 first-prize check. Campbell has now played two tournaments this year, finishing second at the Sony Open in Hawaii last week before winning this week. He’s shot seven of his nine rounds in the 60s.

Before the 13th, Campbell had made key 11- and 12-foot par putts on the seventh and 11th holes, respectively. A 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 ninth gave him a four-shot lead, but he gave those two shots back on the 10th with a bogey-bogey 6 when his second shot found a lake short of the green.

Verplank suffered an up-and-down 73, twice tying for the lead but falling back each time with bogeys.

“If I played any good today, I would have had a tremendous chance,” said. Verplank, who was looking to break a winless streak dating back to the 2001 Bell Canadian Open. “I just didn’t play well. I need to get that figured out, I guess.”

Parnevik set the course tournament record at the new Classic Club on Saturday with a 62 and followed that with a 67. But a bogey at the 16th, when he it the lip of a fairway bunker with his second shot, and a tee shot on the par-3 17th that bounced over the green into a bunker, ended his chances.

“I was praying for the wind to be here today, which I actually thought was my only chance,” said Parnevik, who started the day seven shots behind Campbell.

The wind did pick up as the round progressed, making the back nine play tough for all the players.

“None of us played any good, to be honest,” Verplank said. “When the wind picks up, the golf course changes immensely.”

Campbell’s 71 was the highest finish by a winner at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic since Billy Casper finished with a 72 to win the 1965 tournament. Campbell’s 25-under total was the highest winning finish since Mark Brooks shot 23-under in 1996. Much of the higher scoring was attributed to the new Arnold Palmer-designed Classic Club, which is longer and has more hazards than the traditional tournament course from the 1950s.

For Campbell, the win not only broke his winless streak but also continued his drive for a Ryder Cup berth.

“That’s definitely my goal,” Campbell said.