KEY POINTS:
The descent of New Zealand's top golfer continues at a quickening pace.
Michael Campbell today slipped outside the top 150 players on the official world rankings for the first time since 1999.
He is now placed 153rd on the latest rankings after starting this year at 22nd.
The
2005 US Open champion is coming off his leanest season on the European Tour for a decade, with just two top-10 finishes this calendar year leaving him 55th on the order of merit.
He missed the cut at the Singapore Open this month and is now back at his Sydney home preparing for the Australian Masters starting in Melbourne on November 22 before heading to Queenstown for the New Zealand Open beginning one week later.
Campbell, 38, finished second equal behind Australian Nathan Green at last year's New Zealand Open near Auckland, a 2007 European Tour event.
His only other top result for 2007 was tie for fourth in the British Masters in September.
He had 25 starts in Europe in the 2007 season, missed nine cuts and earned 590,000 euro ($1.16 million).
His winless streak stretches back to September, 2005, when he won the World Matchplay Championship just three months after winning the US Open.
In the latest posting on his website Campbell said the heady success he enjoyed in 2005 led to many off-course distractions.
"The distraction off-course has been more so than ever and it's my fault as I actually allowed that," he said.
"It's human nature to chase the money, you've got to pay the bills somehow."
Campbell said he had also attempted to change his approach since winning the US Open - including his swing, his attitude and even his scheduling - but it did not always go to plan.
"It worked out horribly, to be honest," he said.
"You always try to search for the X-factor. I had a wonderful position going and for some reason I wanted to change things to be more consistent."
He said he had made moves to allow him to concentrate more fully on his golf and he was leaving his management team to see to the business side of his life.
"I said to the guys (management team) a month ago `enough of this. I'm going to focus on playing golf. You guys deal with the business ventures. Let me just play golf'."
Despite Campbell's struggles, he remains this country's leading player, with David Smail the next best on the rankings at 170th, followed by Gareth Paddison at 398th and Mark Brown 429th.
- NZPA