New Zealand golfer Michael Campbell was cast in an unfamiliar role as he contested the third round of the British Open at Royal Birkdale yesterday.
It was the first occasion in seven tournaments that Campbell has competed in the weekend rounds of a European Tour event.
The 2005
US Open champion carded a second successive four-over 74, which left him in a share of 48th place, 11 shots behind the leader, Australian Greg Norman.
Buffeting winds again greeted the players yesterday as Campbell was out in the eighth group of the morning, partnering French Open champion Pablo Larrazabal, of Spain, after both players just made the second-round cut.
Campbell dropped a shot at the par-four second hole and then managed to sink a seventh hole birdie in between bogeys at six and eight.
He continued to hold on in the extremely tough conditions to record pars from the ninth to the 14th holes before recording back-to-back bogeys at 15 and 16.
He then faced an 18m birdie putt at the last that just missed the cup by centimetres for an eventual par.
"It was a nice cut to mark as you always want to play four rounds in a major and this is only the third time this year I will have played all four rounds," Campbell said.
"It's been a real struggle this year but the pendulum is swinging in the right direction, I believe.
"Once again they were tough conditions out there and a score like four-over-par is a good score. The conditions are just unexplainable.
"It's just so tough. You're hitting five irons 140 yards into the wind and then you're hitting wedges 170 yards down breeze. So it's two extremes out there and it's a day for manufacturing shots and it's a true test of golf."
- NZPA
