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LONDON - New Zealand golfer Michael Campbell returns to the venue of his last victory hoping to arrest a steep slide down the ranks.
Campbell joins fellow US Open winners Ernie Els and Retief Goosen from South Africa along with reigning champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina in the European Tour's flagship PGA Championship at Wentworth.
The 4.5 million euro ($9.25 million) event starting tonight (NZ time) is second in stature to the British Open and has also attracted the cream of the European Tour players, including the star British foursome Justin Rose, Paul Casey, Luke Donald and Colin Montgomerie - a three-time winner.
Also vying for the 750,000 euros ($1,543,210) first prize cheque are other major champions Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain), Vijay Singh (Fiji) and Scotland's Paul Lawrie.
Campbell's last taste of success was in October 2005 when he beat Ireland's Paul McGinley in the final of the World Match-Play Championship around the famed West Coast in leafy Surrey.
His victory on a course also affectionately known as "the Burma Road" was just four months after he clinched the US Open.
However, since those victories Campbell has plummeted from 23rd ranked player in the world to 299th.
Campbell is based in England with his family and is returning to competition after missing the cut in The Players Championship in Florida earlier this month.
"It's always nice driving back through the front gates of Wentworth and catching up with guys like Ernie, Goose and Vijay," Campbell said.
"I can still remember finishing second here in my first PGA appearance in '96.
"So Wentworth has been kind to me and I hope it will be kind again to me this week as it is one of my favourite venues.
"(But) I am realistic. My form hasn't been that great but I know in this game form can turn around so quickly and I have been working very hard."
Campbell practised under long-time coach Jonathon Yarwood, playing in the preceding pro-am with Irish business and sporting magnates JP McManus and Dermot Desmond as amateur partners.
The pair own the exclusive Sandy Lane resort in the Caribbean where Tiger Woods was married and Desmond is also a major shareholder in the Scottish soccer team Celtic.
Campbell is planning to contest consecutive tournaments in Europe (including the Wales and Austrian Opens) before the US Open next month.
"No one expects anything of me right now but I feel as though the momentum is starting to build even though I missed the cut in The Players," he said.
Another New Zealander Mark Brown, the Johnnie Walker Classic champion, is contesting the PGA Championship for the first time.
- NZPA
