Golf: Campbell player of year on European Tour

US Open champion Michael Campbell was unanimously named PGA European Tour golfer of the year overnight (NZ time), the Associated Press (AP) has reported.

The 36-year-old New Zealander was picked by a panel of journalists and tour staff members ahead of Colin Montgomerie, who won his eighth European money title this season.

Campbell also won the World Match Play title in September, beating Paul McGinley of Ireland over the final 36 holes at Wentworth.

"Over the past 10 years I've learned a lot about myself and my golf game and without question the European tour has made a huge contribution to my improvement and success as a golfer," Campbell told AP.

The panel considered a short list of other candidates including Angel Cabrera, Stephen Dodd, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Retief Goosen, Padraig Harrington, David Howell and McGinley.

Campbell played poorly last season and began this year by missing five straight cuts to drop in world ranking to No 80.

Campbell finished second to Montgomerie on the money list. Montgomerie won about 2.8 million euro. Campbell picked up 2.5 million euro ($4.26 million).