FINAL SHOT
Michael Campbell The 2005 US Open champion, who covered the Masters Tournament and US Open as an analyst for Singapore-based Fox Sports, talks to Alex Jenkins about his return from a debilitating ankle injury, his fluctuating form and, of course, that brilliant victory at Pinehurst where he held off Tiger Woods to win his first major championship. On his injury … I’m taking it slowly to get back to competitive golf. I don’t want to rush back like I have with other injuries, [but] I played 36 holes the other day and I plan to return to tournaments in the first week of August. On his recent work as an analyst for Fox Sports … It’s given me a very different perspective, an outlook I’ve never had before. At first I found it quite hard to adjust and watch my friends play. My first time was Augusta [for the Masters Tournament]. I really enjoy it, even if I tend to get too critical of some of the players sometimes. It’s been interesting, a new chapter in my life I suppose, but not something I’m looking at full time. I still very much intend to play!
On his win at the 2005 US Open … I was pretty confident going into that week; I was playing well. I stood on the first tee in the first round and felt comfortable. Three good rounds later and I was four shots behind [third round leader] the Goose – Ref ief Goosen, a very good friend of mine. Tiger was there as well. It came down to the last nine holes and it was pretty exciting stuff. I saw it as a wonderful opportunity for me to go out and perform to my best and beat the best players in the world. Tiger had won at Augusta two months before. It was a way to prove to the world I was as good as I felt I was. In the end it was a lot of fun; I didn’t see Tiger as a threat at all. It was my time to shine. I couldn’t control what he did, so I kept to myself and plodded along. I made a few birdies on the back nine, and I think I only had 11
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“I’m still a young 45-year-old,” laughs Campbell, known as ‘Cambo’ to his friends
On looking ahead to the Champions Tour … I’m still a very young 45-year-old [laughs] and I still have five years until the Champions Tour, where I have an exemption having won a major. My career isn’t finished yet, though. Look at [Miguel Angel] Jiménez. He’s 50 and has really inspired me. He had a chance to win at Augusta and he just won a Champions Tour event and a European Tour event. That’s the thing with golf: there’s really no age barrier.
On the new-look Pinehurst … Pinehurst looked fantastic, back to its original 1930s look. It’s a completely different beast to the course I won on, although the greens are pretty much the same. It now seems to have an essence of St Andrews to it. It’s always been a wonderful golf course to play – not long but extremely challenging.
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“I saw [Pinehurst in 2005] as a wonderful opportunity for me to go out and perform to my best and beat the best players in the world … It was a way to prove I was as good as I felt I was.” putts on the final nine holes, which obviously helps a lot [laughs]. I have wonderful memories and to see my name on that trophy alongside all the greats of golf is something I’ll never forget.
Campbell was in the running to win the 2012 Hong Kong Open before being overtaken on the final day by – who else? – Miguel Angel Jiménez (above); in 1995, in his rookie year on the European Tour, Campbell very nearly one the greatest prize of all – the Open Championship at St Andrews (opposite) 80
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On meeting Tiger in the locker-room after the round … Tiger was obviously disappointed. Our moods were very, very different. But he still came over and said, ‘Congratulations: well done, Michael.’ I replied by saying that winning a major is so tough – how had he done it 10 times? All he said was, ‘a lot of hard work’. I’m sure if we sat down over a few drinks the conversation would be very different. On surrendering his final-round lead to lose out to John Daly [who beat Constantino Rocca in a play-off] for the 1995 Open Championship at St Andrews … 1995 was my rookie year on the European Tour and I had only turned pro two years previously.
I had had no psychology lessons or anything, so I had no chance standing on the first tee in the last round. I was prepared physically but not mentally. You can’t beat experience: it’s a wonderful thing! In the 10 years between St Andrews and Pinehurst I won 10 times. I had the self belief. But in 1995, if I’m honest, I didn’t think I was going to win. Pinehurst was a lot different. I felt it was my time. On shooting 65 in the third round at the Open Championship on a day when the average score was 75 to vault into the lead … It has to be the best round of my career. It was blowing a blustery 25 knots at St Andrews, so to shoot 65 and charge through the field was something else. It wasn’t really thinking about my position [in the tournament] and it was all quite a blur really. I can’t even remember which holes I birdied. I remember I was playing with Australian Brett Ogle and he was looking at me HKGOLFER.COM
like I wasn’t human. I also remember missing a putt for birdie on the last green and being very disappointed, not realizing that I had still shot 65. Wonderful! On earning a cheque for £1 million for w i n n i n g t h e H S B C Wo r l d M a t c h Pl ay Championship at Wentworth in 2006, the biggest monetary prize in golf at the time … I didn’t think about the money, to be honest. I was just trying to beat the best players in golf. For me it’s all about kissing trophies. Money is nice, but it was the furthest thing from my mind, which I know is very difficult for many people to understand, but I’m just telling the truth. In fact, afterwards I asked my caddie what we had won because I really had no idea. My focus was just on winning the match. On his love of links golf … I really enjoy the imagination you have to put in on every shot. The wind changes in direction and strength, so for four days it’s like playing four different golf courses: the yardage book doesn’t matter, it’s all about imagination. If I’m 150 yards into the wind I might hit a 1-iron or a rescue and land it 10 yards short of the green and let it run up. I grew up in windy Wellington, so I’m used to hitting all the shots – fades, hooks, keeping it low. I love it. On his rollercoaster career … Yes, I have had a few lean years but I always seem to bounce back. That’s my mantra and I’ve been that way since I was a kid. As an amateur HKGOLFER.COM
“1995 was my rookie year on the European Tour, so I had no chance standing on the first tee in the last round [at the Open Championship at St Andrews]. I was prepared physically but not mentally … If I’m honest, I didn’t think I was going to win.” I was either winning tournaments or missing the cut. It’s just who I am and I don’t know why that is [laughs]. I wish I was more consistent but that’s the way I am and I have to accept it. But it’s proved to me that I can come back at any time. That’s my goal: to be back. On coming close to winning the 2012 Hong Kong Open … Hong Kong proved to me that I still have it. Miguel [Angel Jiménez] played some wonderful golf and beat me again, but it proved to me that I have what it takes. That week and the week before in Portugal [where Campbell finished tied third] meant a lot. On winning the Eisenhower Trophy with New Zealand in 1992 and turning pro … I was very, very lucky. In my first pro event in Australia I finished seventh; in my second I finished second and then I won my third event. These were all events in Australia and so I made the transition from amateur to pro very quickly. The other three guys in the [Eisenhower Trophy] team struggled and missed cuts. I took the lift and those guys took the stairs. I was lucky. On the International Team’s poor Presidents Cup record … The biggest problem is that there’s no unity between the players; there’s so many different cultures and languages. You have to have unity and that’s what’s missing right now. We’ve had great captains – I played under Peter Thomson and Gary Player – but you just have to have that connection between the players. That’s my view. HK GOLFER・JUL 2014
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