Magic Micheel

American Shaun Micheel completed the unlikeliest double in major championship history on Sunday - and did it with the shot of the year.

The 34-year-old ranked 169th in the world won the United States PGA championship - an event he had never played in before - at Oak Hill just a month after 396th-rated Ben Curtis lifted the Open in his first-ever major appearance at Sandwich.

Having just bogeyed the 17th to be only one ahead of compatriot Chad Campbell, Micheel flirted with the rough with his final drive, then hit a 174-yard seven-iron that landed around 10 feet short of the hole and curled up to within three inches.

With Mike Weir and Jim Furyk having lifted the Masters and US Open, the 2003 golf season has seen four new major champions for the first time since 1969 - the year Tony Jacklin won the Open.

Micheel, playing only his third major and previously best known for saving an elderly couple from a sinking car 10 years ago, won by two with a closing 70 for a four-under-par total of 276.

South African Tim Clark, who had been joint leader with nine to play, finished third on one under and German Alex Cejka was fourth one further back.

Micheel was the first debutant winner since John Daly in 1991 - and it was his first US Tour win as well, as it was for Curtis a month ago. And with the trophy came a cheque worth £675,000.

As the Orlando-born player's celebrations began, world number one Tiger Woods was long gone from Rochester, his worst-ever major performance as a professional behind him.

Even with two birdies in the last three holes, Woods finished 12 over par and joint 39th. His previous worst was 29th.

Micheel said: "My driving was leaving me, but I had the perfect yardage at the last and a nice perfect lie.

"I was trying to hit it somewhere on the green and was fortunate I didn't have to line that one up.

"When I birdied the 14th I felt I was pretty much in control and then unfortunately I three-putted the next and Chad birdied. I was sweating coming down the stretch, but I'm proud of being the PGA champion.

"I didn't think it would be happening when I came here."

Campbell had not won a US Tour event either and with Clark the other central character it was not the trio many expected to be fighting it out on such a demanding lay-out.

Masters champion Weir looked a danger at one under par overnight, three behind Micheel and Campbell, but the Canadian left-hander incredibly bogeyed the first five holes of his final round and shot 75.

World number two Ernie Els could do no better than 71 and had to settle for a share of fifth with 49-year-old Jay Haas.

Clark turned in 32 to catch Micheel, but then three-putted the next two and could not get back on terms.

Micheel was three ahead when he drove the green at the 323-yard 14th and birdied it while Campbell bogeyed, but there was a two-stroke swing the other way on the next.

The topsy-turvy nature of things continued when Micheel, having missed the fairway at the 16th, made the green and rammed in a 25-footer to be two ahead again, but he then bogeyed the 17th to set the scene for the dramatic finale.

England's Luke Donald holed a 167-yard seven-iron for an eagle two at the second, but finished on eight over after 72, while playing partner Padraig Harrington had a 73 for 10 over.

Gary Evans needed a 60-foot closing birdie putt for 15 over, Ian Poulter's 79 sent him crashing to 18 over - he dropped six shots in the last four - and Paul Casey had a 76 for 19 over.

Woods beat them, but before Micheel had even teed off he reflected on another disappointing week in the majors this year. He failed to capture any of the game's four biggest trophies for the first time since 1998.

"This is a brutal test," said Woods.

Jack Nicklaus, whose record 18 majors is the one Woods is trying to catch, went 12 majors without a victory prior to his eighth success in the 1970 Open, so to go five without a win does not amount to a crisis in his career just yet.

But the 27-year-old, whose eighth and last major triumph was last June's US Open, has discovered in the 14 months since then just how long and difficult the road lies ahead if he is to leave no room for argument about whether he is the best player in history.

And this was a particularly bad week. He has not finished outside the top 30 in any strokeplay event since the Bay Hill Invitational in Florida in March 1999 - nearly 100 events ago.

"I just haven't made enough birdies. I've only made four in three days and that's not going to get it done," he said after his third-round 73. That became only four in 69 holes until he birdied the 16th and 18th.

"I'm just a little off. On a golf course this penal (the rough is some of the worst ever seen) you can't be a little off and expect to be okay.

"You have to drive it great and hit your irons in the correct spots to have birdie putts. The only thing I'm doing well is putting, but I just haven't had enough looks at birdies. When I have I've made them.

"Yeah, I've not played my best, but the shots I've hit good still kick in the rough or I put it in the wrong spot on the green. It's kind of just added up.

"It's the hardest fairest golf course we've ever played. Carnoustie (venue for the 1999 Open were he shot 10 over par and still finished seventh) wasn't fair. It was a great golf course, but it wasn't set up fairly.

"I've felt pretty good about my game the entire summer (his previous three finishes were first in the Western Open, fourth in the Open at Sandwich and second in the Buick Open), but this is just one of those weeks.

"I've been as patient as possible. I really have grinded and fought every every inch of the way. If I had bagged it (American slang for giving up) I could have shot a million.''

Collated final-round scores (USA unless stated, par 70):

276 Shaun Micheel 69 68 69 70

278 Chad Campbell 69 72 65 72

279 Tim Clark (Rsa) 72 70 68 69

280 Alex Cejka (Ger) 74 69 68 69

282 Jay Haas 70 74 69 69, Ernie Els (Rsa) 71 70 70 71

284 Loren Roberts 70 73 70 71, Fred Funk 69 73 70 72, Mike Weir (Can) 68 71 70 75

285 Niclas Fasth (Swe) 76 70 71 68, Kenny Perry 75 72 70 68, Charles Howell 70 72 70 73, Billy Andrade 67 72 72 74

286 Scott McCarron 74 70 71 71, Tim Herron 69 72 74 71, Rod Pampling (Aus) 66 74 73 73, Robert Gamez 70 73 70 73

287 Rocco Mediate 72 74 71 70, Jim Furyk 72 74 69 72, Carlos Franco (Par) 73 73 69 72, Kevin Sutherland 69 74 71 73, Toshimitsu Izawa (Jpn) 71 72 71 73

288 Stuart Appleby (Aus) 74 73 71 70, Luke Donald (Gbr) 73 72 71 72, Adam Scott (Aus) 72 69 72 75, Phil Mickelson 66 75 72 75

289 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 71 71 77 70, Woody Austin 72 73 69 75

290 David Toms 75 72 71 72, Todd Hamilton 70 74 73 73, Peter Lonard (Aus) 74 74 69 73, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 72 76 69 73, Frank Lickliter 71 72 71 76

291 Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 73 72 72 74, JL Lewis 71 75 71 74, Fred Couples 74 71 72 74, Lee Janzen 68 74 72 77, Vijay Singh (Fij) 69 73 70 79

292 Joe Durant 71 76 75 70, Mark Calcavecchia 73 71 76 72, Robert Allenby (Aus) 70 77 73 72, Tiger Woods 74 72 73 73, Hal Sutton 75 71 67 79, Briny Baird 73 71 67 81

293 Angel Cabrera (Arg) 71 76 72 74, Duffy Waldorf 70 75 72 76, Tom Pernice 70 71 72 80

294 Ben Crane 73 73 76 72, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 74 70 77 73, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 75 72 73 74

295 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa) 74 74 76 71, Brian Gay 74 74 75 72, Jose Coceres (Arg) 73 68 78 76, Gary Evans (Gbr) 74 74 71 76, Len Mattiace 74 70 75 76

296 Chris DiMarco 74 71 78 73

297 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 75 72 75 75, Bob Estes 71 76 73 77, Scott Hoch 75 72 73 77, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 69 77 73 78

298 Billy Mayfair 76 72 78 72, Eduardo Romero (Arg) 77 71 76 74, Phil Tataurangi (Nzl) 72 71 78 77, Ian Poulter (Gbr) 72 75 72 79, Jonathan Kaye 74 73 72 79

299 Paul Casey (Gbr) 79 69 75 76

300 Bob Burns 72 76 70 82

302 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 71 75 75 81

304 KJ Choi 74 74 80 76, Michael Campbell (Nzl) 74 71 80 79