Campbell cruises to Fort Worth junior title with 75 at Colonial

Through six holes Thursday, Zachary Campbell’s final round looked like a mess. Three bogeys. Two three-putts. A penalty that turned a three into a five.

But there’s a thing about 10-shot leads: They allow room for error. And on a windy day at Colonial Country Club, no one was going low enough to catch Campbell.

The recent Arlington Heights graduate paced himself to a 5-over 75 to win the Fort Worth junior championship by 12 strokes. He finished 5-over (250) for the tournament, which had its third round shortened to nine holes by a rainstorm Wednesday.

On Thursday, Robert Garcia Jr. carded the low score of the day with a 70, vaulting him from last place in the championship flight to the runner-up trophy. He won a scorecard playoff over Davis Farnell, who shot a 74 to also finish at 17 over.

But while Garcia Jr., Farnell, Brandon Massey (74) and Sam Shyroc (72) bested Campbell at Colonial, none stood much of a chance entering the final day.

Campbell shot 73 on Monday at Riverside Golf Club, then jumped to a seven-shot lead with the low round of the tournament — a 4-under 66 — at River Crest Country Club on Tuesday.

And when he posted a 1-over 36 in nine holes at Shady Oaks on Wednesday, his lead was extended by three more strokes.

During his early holes Thursday, it looked as if that cushion would be valuable.

He parred No. 1, but Jackson Markham, his playing partner, opened with a birdie. On No. 2, Campbell’s tee shot landed right of the fairway, while Markham’s split the middle. But as Markham addressed his approach shot, a spectator stopped play, and for good reason.

Campbell and Markham had hit from the wrong tees, playing from the tips instead of the designated blue tees.

“We went back to the blacks, because that’s where we normally play,” Campbell said. “We just walked back there and didn’t think anything of it.”

The incident didn’t distract Campbell too much — he teed off again, hit his approach shot to the green and sank his first putt — but it came with a two-stroke penalty. Instead of birdie, he got a bogey.

He then missed greens on the long par-4 No. 3 and the long par-3 No. 4, bogeying both holes. A three-putt cost him on No. 4. He came back with a par on No. 5, the toughest hole on the course, but another three-putt gave him a bogey on No. 6, pushing him to 4 over.

But at that point, he wasn’t concerned. The penalty on No. 2 was fluky, and he just missed two hybrid shots, one in a greenside bunker on No. 3 and the other off the green on No. 4.

With his confidence still intact, he went to work starting on the seventh tee, where he boomed a drive down the middle of the fairway. He landed his approach on the green and two-putted for par, and then did the same on the next two holes.

At the turn, he led Markham by nine shots.

He then went 1 under with no bogeys on the next five holes. Bogeys on No. 15 and No. 16 pushed him to 5 over, but he finished with two pars to cap the easy win.

“The putting probably kept me from shooting a 68 or a 69,” he said. “I hit the ball really, really well today.”

Campbell, who finished third in the tournament in 2013, joins a list of champions that includes 1996 PGA champion Mark Brooks, pros Hunter Haas and Lindy Miller, and former college standouts Franklin Corpening and Andrew Presley.

The title has been on his radar for a while. He’s a member of Ridglea Country Club, he takes lessons at Shady Oaks and he works at River Crest, three of the courses that hosted the tournament this week.

“I think I wanted to win this before I won the younger division,” he said. “I’ve been following kids out here that I know from Ridglea since I was about 12 years old. I’ve always had the mindset that I needed to get here and win this.”

This story was originally published July 9, 2015 at 7:14 PM with the headline "Campbell cruises to Fort Worth junior title with 75 at Colonial."