When Rod Pampling's second shot found the water on the 18th hole at the Merrill Lynch Shootout last November in Naples, Fla., it could have sunk the chances of Pampling and his partner, Jerry Kelly. But Kelly's drive was better, and in the team format of the competition, Pampling didn't have long to wait for a chance at redemption. He recovered to bury a 20-foot putt for a birdie, forcing a sudden-death hole that the pair won.

For Pampling, the victory capped an outstanding 2006 that included a win at one of the PGA Tour's most prestigious events, the Bay Hill Invitational. Pampling finished the year with $2.6 million in earnings and an invitation to his first season-ending Tour Championship (a tournament for the top 30 players on the money list). After years of playing in relative obscurity in his native Australia and the U.S., Pampling had finally joined the ranks of the world's best players.

In making that crucial putt at the Shootout, Pampling showed a confidence that has been years in the making. "I'veslowly become more comfortable," he says. "I was more relaxed on tour last year, and it showed the whole year. When I got in situations to win, I knew how to handle them."

That's a change others have noticed too. "You can sense something almost imperceptible, as if he's found a level in himself that wasn't there before," says Craig Walker, Pampling's Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor. The men have worked together since 1999, and though Walker, based in Jacksonville, must normally follow his client's career from a distance, he was on hand in Naples to witness Pampling's dramatic victory. That also gave them a chance to talk about the golfer's financial life, which has grown more complex as his career has taken off.

A few years ago, Pampling's focus was necessarily on his sport, not his investments, as he jetted back and forth between two continents. But in 2005, he and his wife, Angela, had their first child, and last September young Sam got a sister, Willa. Meanwhile, Pampling's income has shot up, though he can't know from year to year what he will earn. To balance that uncertainty, Walker has helped Pampling establish a long-term investment plan that emphasizes stability and growth. He has also helped Pampling with the financial needs of a growing family, such as saving for two college educations, estate planning, legacy building - and even assisted in securing a mortgage. "When we started working together, Rod had not thought a lot about his finances," Walker says. "Now, knowing that's all in place, he can concentrate on his game."

"Our professional relationship has been awesome," says Pampling, who isn't fazed by working with a Financial Advisor who, for part of the year, is half a world away. "We're buying an apartment in Australia," he adds. "We're working with Merrill Lynch instead of doing it through a local bank. Craig and everyone there go out of their way to make things simple." Pampling knows that just as he needed Kelly to help him prevail at the Merrill Lynch Shootout, he can count on Walker to keep his financial life on a steady course.