KEY POINTS:
New Zealand golfer Michael Campbell refused to suffer in silence after being humbled by a devilishly difficult Oakmont course at the US Open on Monday.
Campbell was not in a good mood after a closing round of nine-over-par 79 left him in a tie for 58th on 304, 19 strokes behind the winner, Angel Cabrera, of Argentina.
The 2005 US Open champion walked away from Oakmont Country Club highly critical of a course which delivered a stroke average of 75.72.
Campbell said the venue made some players "look like fools".
He fears golf fans are being cheated of final-day excitement as major championship organisers set about deliberately toughening courses, resulting in competitors battling to record bogeys and pars when birdies and eagles are usually the norm.
"It is on the edge of embarrassing some of the guys," Campbell said.
"It wasn't much fun out there, put it that way. I used to enjoy coming to major tournaments and playing them.
"But when you are out there grinding your butt off for bogeys and pars it is not very nice.
"We felt that at Augusta (Masters) this year. Normally you get a guy charging on the back nine and shooting 30 like Jack Nicklaus did in 1986.
"To me that is exciting TV and for the players and the spectators, too.
"But now there are just guys making bogeys and it is making us look like fools really."
After shooting 73, 77 and 75 in the opening three rounds, Campbell needed to do something extraordinary today to command attention. He didn't.
He bogeyed the first, seventh and eighth holes and then double bogeyed the ninth to reach the turn in five-over 40.
While he birdied the par-three 13th, bogeys at the 11th, 15th and 17th plus a double bogey at the short 16th saw his shoulders slump as he sought the sanctuary of the locker room.
"It is not very enjoyable at all. I think today the course won against me. I snapped out there, you could say.
"After nine holes I was four or five over and it was quite hard to get things going.
"The general consensus by all the players is that this is the toughest major we've come across -- definitely.
"It has got the combination of the undulating fast greens. You've got the rough and a linksy feel as well. So those three things together makes it a tough golf course."
- NZPA
