Golf: Campbell slides further after forgettable finish

8.45am

VALDERRAMA - New Zealand golfer Michael Campbell has blown the chance of automatic invitations to two of the four majors next year after a horror last place finish in the Volvo Masters in Spain this morning (NZ time).

Campbell shot a quintuple bogey 10 at Valderrama's notorious 17th hole on the last day of the traditional European Tour season-ending event.

The New Zealander then double bogeyed the last for a round of 11-over 82 and an eventual 22-over tally.

It is the second European tournament in succession Campbell has finished in the 80s. He closed out the recent AMEX World Golf Championship in Ireland with a 14-over-par 86.

Campbell, who had earlier rounds of 74, 76 and 74, simply said "I have nothing to say", before heading to the clubhouse.

It was left to caddy Michael Waite to clean out Campbell's locker and pack up his clubs and belongings.

He arrived on the Spanish Costa del Sol coast lying 25th on the European Order of Merit and needing to be among the top 20 to be granted an automatic entry into July's British Open at St Andrews.

A top-15 placing, as has been Campbell's Order of Merit standing over the past four seasons, would have made him again immediately eligible for the US Open.

However, Campbell's poor finish saw him drop to 28th this year with earnings in Europe of 748,984 euros ($1.42 million) from the 24 events he contested.

Campbell has contested all four majors each year since 2001 but unless there is a marked turnaround in form at the start of next year, he will have to qualify for both the US Open and British Open.

An automatic place in August's US PGA Championship will hinge on him remaining in the world top 100 in July next year.

Campbell's mental coach, Jos Vanstiphout, confirmed he had spent three hours over dinner last night discussing various aspects of Campbell's golfing make-up.

"It's been a very disappointing season for Michael on top of a disappointing year in the States the season before," said Vanstiphout, who also works with world No 2 Ernie Els.

"But I am not going to talk about the past as we decided after our discussion last night that he is going to regroup from the start of next year and virtually go back to basics.

"I will promise you we will see a brand new Michael Campbell in 2005 and unfortunately due to reasons, some personal, that I am not going to talk about because that is between me and him, but I assure you he will be back to the player who has won around the world.

"You will see this new Michael Campbell from his first two tournaments next year, the Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne and then the New Zealand Open."

Campbell was to join his wife and family in Sydney ahead of his intended next event, the Australian Open starting on November 25.

While Vanstiphout talked of a fresh start with Campbell, he also delivered some hard truths to the Wellingtonian.

"I also told him to now to take a break and whether he plays the Australian Open and the Australian PGA, as he's talked about, I don't know, but there is too many things going on around him," Vanstiphout said.

"He needs to get himself away from that aspect and that means having less people around him and there is just too many people around him who want a part of him.

"Just leave the guy alone and just let him get on with his golf and that's all part of what we talked about."

- NZPA