PINEHURST, N.C. - When the final putt dropped, Michael Campbell pulled the lid of his cap down across his face and let the moment linger.

He had taken on Tiger and won.

He had played Pinehurst to a push.

He had finished four days in brutal conditions and come out not only unscathed, but ahead. A winner. The U.S. Open champion.

"Well, it's been a journey, my career," he said when asked what he was thinking after the final putt fell.

Campbell, the New Zealander who a few years ago considered giving up the game and selling golf balls, took control Sunday after a stunning collapse by Retief Goosen. Then he held off none other than Tiger Woods to become the latest surprise winner of a major championship.

Campbell answered Woods' final salvo - a 12-foot birdie on No. 18 - with a 20-foot birdie of his own one hole back to keep his lead at three and salt away the "thorough examination" that took place over four demanding rounds at Pinehurst No. 2.

He shot 1-under-par 69 to finish the tournament at par, an even draw with the withering course and two strokes ahead of Woods, who also closed with a 69.

"It's unbelievable. That's all I can say," Campbell said. "I worked hard for it. I deserve it, I think. And I have it. So it's all mine."

Woods failed to win his 10th major, instead finishing second for the second time, charging from as many as eight strokes back to within two near the end. Bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 did him in. His three-putt on 17 was deja vu from the 1999 Open, also at Pinehurst, when he three-putted the green to stymie his chances of defeating Payne Stewart.

"I figured if I could just get to even par ... if I was lucky, I might be able to get into a playoff," Woods said. "Unfortunately, I made those two bogeys on 16 and 17 and (they) kind of put me out of that equation."

Out of the equation much earlier was Goosen, the defending champion who started the day with a three-stroke lead and who many thought would simply stroll through the pines to an easy victory.

But Goosen made double bogey on the second hole, lost the lead with three-putts on the third and fourth and wound up in 11th place after an 11-over 81, the worst final round shot by a leader at the U.S. Open since Gil Morgan at wind-blown Pebble Beach in 1992.

Goosen's playing partner, the surprising Jason Gore, shot 84, turning the final pairing into an embarrassing debacle. Tournament officials put them on the clock on No. 11 "because we had just had to hit so many shots," Goosen said.

Before No. 16, Goosen challenged Gore to a friendly wager because "at least we've got to try to play for something on these last three holes."

For the record, Goosen won the $5.

Campbell, meanwhile, won $1.17 million and finally cashed in on the potential so many people saw a decade ago when he led the British Open after three rounds. He didn't capitalize there, and the next 10 years were tough. At one point, in 1998, he lost his cards on the European and Australasian Tours and was considering giving up the game.

Luckily, he got a few sponsor invites and got his cards back.

"It's been a great journey since then," he said.

He joined 1963 British Open champion Bob Charles as the only Kiwis to win a major, a feat Campbell thinks might be good enough to knock rugby off the front pages at home.

When it was over, Campbell hugged Woods' caddie, Steve Williams, a fellow New Zealander who called the win the greatest sports moment in their country's history.

True or not, there's no denying he earned this victory on a course that played to an average score of 74.166 for the tournament, and against Woods, the best player in the game.

"It is so hard to explain to people how difficult this golf course was playing," Woods said.

Eight shots behind as he headed up the third fairway, Woods birdied the first two holes on the back nine to get within two shots of the lead.

Campbell answered with a 25-foot birdie on No. 12, the toughest hole in the final round.

Woods stuffed his approach on the 203-yard 15th hole to 5 feet, a shot that brought a huge cheer and forced Campbell to back off his shot on the adjacent 14th fairway. He hit that one to 8 feet and made par.

Then came a great sand save by Campbell on No. 15, followed by Woods' bogeys on 16 and 17 to effectively end the tournament.

That Campbell surprised everyone seemed appropriate for a tournament in which Gore, the 818th-ranked player in the world, and 46-year-old qualifier Olin Browne pushed Goosen the hardest over the first three days.

Those feel-good stories ended Sunday, though. Browne shot 80 and Gore's 84 was bad enough to push him to 49th place, but not to ruin the experience.

"I feel like I'm a better player from it," Gore said. "I'll still be myself."

So will Campbell, although things change after winning a major.

"Today was - just having that putt to win the major championship - you dreamed about that as a kid," he said.