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LONDON - New Zealand golfer Michael Campbell had just one day off to celebrate his best finish in nearly a year.
Campbell was at his England home today, and delighted with his tie for eighth in the Dutch Open near Amsterdam.
It represented his best result since he was fourth in the British Masters in England last September.
Campbell went into the closing round of the Dutch Open yesterday trailing five shots behind eventual champion Darren Clarke, of Northern Ireland, and looking for his first victory in almost three years.
That did not eventuate but his level par 70 left him six shy of Clarke and enjoying a return to the top-10 list.
That saw him improve 27 places to 166th on the European Tour order of merit with season earnings of 90,087 euro ($191,840).
Campbell is still languishing well down the world rankings in 362nd place but he heads to Scotland tomorrow for the Johnnie Walker Championship starting at Glenagles on Thursday buoyed by his efforts in the Netherlands.
"It was a good week in Holland and it's the first time in a long while I've been in the mix and it felt good to go into the final day with the chance of a victory," he said.
"It didn't work out but I feel as though I turned a very big corner last week just as I had done in my previous two events - the British Open and the US PGA Championship - where I made the cut.
"My driving was very sound in Holland and all I am continuing to work on is my putting and I'm confident that will fall into place sooner rather than later."
Meanwhile, Mark Brown remains the leading New Zealander on the world rankings despite dropping two places to 77th on the revised list released today.
Japan-based David Smail is next best at 122nd while Tim Wilkinson is 301st.
- NZPA
