CROMWELL, Connecticut, 29 July 2003 — Peter Jacobsen recorded his first victory in eight years when he shot a three-under-par 67 to win the Greater Hartford Open on Sunday.

The 49-year-old finished at 14-under 266 and won by two strokes over Chris Riley (68) while Todd Fischer was third at 11-under 269.

Steve Pate (70), Craig Barlow (69) and 2003 three-time winner this season Kenny Perry (69) tied for fourth at 10-under 270.

Jacobsen is the sixth player aged 40 or older to win on the PGA Tour this season and the second in two weeks.

The 50-year-old Craig Stadler won last week’s B.C. Open. Jacobsen went 183 starts between wins, his last being at the 1995 Buick Invitational.

In 1984, he won the Sammy Davis Jr. Greater Hartford Open and picked up $72,000 for that victory, one-tenth of what he earned on Sunday.

“It (only) feels like four or five years,” Jacobsen said. “I’ve been so inspired by Stadler and Jay Haas (49-years-old), Tom Watson (53) has also played so well this year. Those are my guys.”

Watson won the Senior British Open on Sunday in a playoff at Turnberry, site of his 1977 win.

For Jacobsen, winning also marked a comeback of sorts. He had hip surgery in 2001 and after eight weeks off tour, he returned at Hartford.

Jacobsen opened the week with a seven-under 63 and never relinquished the lead.

On Sunday, he began with a one-stroke advantage and promptly birdied the par-four third and fourth holes.

A bogey at the par-three fifth gave him an outward 34. Jacobsen birdied the par-five 13th to reach 13-under and open a two-stroke lead over Fischer and Perry.

Riley, who had hit two balls out of bounds earlier in the day, eagled the par-four 15th hole to reach 11-under and return to the fray.

Campbell Puts End to Nightmare Slump

In Portmarnock, Ireland, New Zealand’s Michael Campbell emerged from the worst slump of his career to win the Irish Open in a three-way playoff on Sunday.

The 34-year-old Campbell hit a 146-yard nine iron to within a foot of the pin at the first extra hole, the 18th, to clinch his first tournament victory since last year’s European Open at the K-Club on the other side of Dublin.

The New Zealander’s birdie edged out Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and Sweden’s Peter Hedblom who had also finished with a four-round total of 277, 11 under par on the famous Portmarnock links.

Campbell has only just returned to Europe after after a disastrous spell in America earlier this year.

The Kiwi star missed the cut in every tournament he entered on the other side of the Atlantic and scored 89 for a round in the Players’ Championship in March before he was disqualified for signing a wrong card. “It has been a long time and it was hard,” said Campbell.

Campbell had started the year at 18 in the world, but has endured a torrid time in the United States where he missed nine out of nine halfway cuts.