CASTLE ROCK, Colo. - It seemed everywhere Rod Pampling went, people wanted to know about Carnoustie.

After becoming the first player to lead a major and miss the cut the next day, it's hard to blame them for asking.

Maybe now Pampling has given them something else to talk about.

The Australian made a 21-foot eagle putt on the 17th hole Sunday in The International, moving past Alex Cejka to win his first PGA Tour title and prove he's definitely over the meltdown in the 1999 British Open.

"I just keep myself in the present," said Pampling, the tour's sixth first-time winner this year. "It was enjoying seeing the gallery cheering. That's obviously something you strive for and to enjoy it again - it's been a while - is a great experience."

It took a couple of big shots at the 492-yard 17th hole to get there.

When Pampling stepped to the tee, he trailed Cejka by three points in the modified Stableford scoring system event. After a big drive, Pampling hit a 7-iron onto the fringe just right of the flag so he would have an uphill putt.

The strategy worked perfectly: he curled in the putt, pumping his fist as it dropped for five points.

Pampling closed with a par to finish with 31 points, taking home the $900,000 first-place check in the final event before the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

"I know I'm playing well and I'm looking forward to it," said Pampling, who won an Australasian tour event in 1999 for his only other professional victory.

Tom Pernice was third with 27 points, and Duffy Waldorf had 26.

Cejka, who trailed by a point at the start of the round, was hurt by double bogeys on Nos. 8 and 16, losing six points on those holes.

"Crazy things happen in this tournament," Cejka said.

No doubt.

Chris DiMarco had a commanding nine-point lead after scoring 31 points the first two rounds, only to see it slip away with eight bogeys in a third round that dropped him into a tie with Pampling.

DiMarco's collapse left 17 players within 10 points of the lead - two eagles in this format - and gave every one of the 44 players who made the cut a chance heading into a potentially wild final round.

There was plenty of wildness, but not the kind that normally comes in a format that awards players up to 8 points for a double eagle. With the course playing to a stroke average of 74 - the fifth-highest final round on the tour this year - the typical soundtrack of cheers and roars was replaced by groans and moans.

"No one took control early, which I thought it was there for it to happen," Pampling said.

Pampling at least tried.

He took the early lead with a birdie on the first hole, dropped into a tie after bogeys at Nos. 5 and 7 and went back ahead at No. 9 after Cejka's first double bogey.

Pernice moved into a brief tie for the lead at 28 points after Pampling bogeyed the 10th, but dropped back with bogeys on Nos. 11 and 12.

Pampling followed with a bogey on the par-4 12th after pulling his approach shot into the water left of the green - saving it with a difficult 13-footer. Cejka moved three points ahead with birdies on 13 and 14.

But then it was Cejka's turn to fall back.

He pushed his tee shot on the par-3 16th well into the gallery right of the green, then three-putted for a double bogey that dropped him into a tie with Pampling.

At that point, Waldorf looked as if he might win it after finishing with 26 points nearly an hour earlier.

But Cejka regrouped on the 17th. After Pernice two-putted for birdie to tie for the lead with 27 points, Cejka followed with a two-putt birdie of his own to regain the lead.

Pampling seemed to be in trouble after needing three putts from the fringe for a bogey at 16, but rebounded at 17. He hit a drive down the middle and left his approach pin-high for the clinching putt.

It was a similar outcome to 2001, when no one mounted much of a charge and Pernice won with a one-point final round.

"Normally, it's just one or two guys who make a run on Sunday, and today nobody did it," Cejka said.

DiMarco never recovered from his disastrous third round.

Starting off with 29 points, he made the turn with just 24 after bogeys on Nos. 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9. DiMarco at least picked up some valuable Ryder Cup points. A tie for sixth place moved him from 19th in the standings to 15th.

Jay Haas and Stewart Cink also helped their chances of playing in the matches next month at Oakland Hills.

The 50-year-old Haas earned 60 points with his fifth-place finish to bump Jerry Kelly from the top 10, and Cink went from 13th to 12th in the standings after finishing eagle-birdie to tie for sixth.