Golf: Campbell standing up when it matters

Steve Williams (right), caddy for Tiger Woods, congratulates Michael Campbell on his win. Picture / Reuters

Hot and cold, they call him. It is hardly a compliment, but Michael Campbell will happily wear that.

In earlier times when he has warmed up in a tournament he has tended to melt in the face of suffocating pressure.

Yesterday, he belied his inner emotions by plotting his way round a notoriously difficult Pinehurst course as if it were a casual stroll in the park.

It was nothing of the sort, of course, not with golf's No 1 henchman, Tiger Woods, making a run for the big money on the back nine, applying the screws when the opportunities were presented.

Campbell held off Woods, his only true challenger, to become just the second New Zealander to win a major.

The first, Sir Bob Charles, achieved the feat the small matter of 42 years ago at the British Open.

Arguably, the most remarkable aspect of Campbell's performance - aside from sure putting and solid strokemaking - was his composure.

He was clearly at ease with himself and long-time caddie Michael Waite as he set off on a journey of discovery in the last round - a journey he began 12 years ago when he left the amateur ranks and the comfort blanket of his Wellington home and family.

Yesterday, the "I'm just a Maori boy from Titahi Bay" showed he had grown up, was comfortable in his own skin and had stopped second-guessing himself when standing over crucial shots.

Campbell has now won 14 titles worldwide as a pro, but not until yesterday had he truly displayed the all-round qualities those close to him have long championed.

He stood up when it mattered and - in a wildly fluctuating career - to do it in the US Open on a course known for its man-eating qualities was something else.

Campbell arrived at Pinehurst last week ranked No 80 in the world, accepted into the second major of the year only after he survived a pre-qualifying tournament in England.

No one blinked as he quietly went about formulating his game-plan, and neither should they have.

Despite his title wins since 1994, Campbell had an appalling record in the United States, including a shocking run in 2003 of nine successive missed cuts in PGA Tour strokeplay events.

He once even shot a round of 89 and managed to have himself disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard, prompting a memorable line about "aliens invading my body".

It was definitely one of his cold spells, although it did not chill him to the bone like an earlier desertion of form in 1997 which saw him fail to collect a pay cheque over a span of 17 tournaments in Europe, his misery compounded by a serious wrist injury.

When no aliens were found in 2003, Campbell returned to Europe chastened but determined to put his ill-fated US sojourn behind him.

He almost immediately won the Irish Open and it seemed he was a miracle worker - recognising that familiar scenery and opponents were what made him hot.

It's never that simple, though. Until yesterday, the Irish Open remained Campbell's last win. He missed the previous two cuts at the New Zealand Open and struggled for any semblance of consistency on and off the course.

Three top-10 finishes in Europe this year hinted that he was turning things round, but in truth no one had expected Campbell to triumph at Pinehurst, let alone himself.

So he rolled up to the tournament almost under the cover of anonymity. Few gave him a second glance, his past record convincing observers he was a mere sideshow to the real show.

Their indifference was understandable. Before yesterday Campbell had competed in 24 majors and made nine cuts, with a best result of third-equal at the 1995 British Open. He had found the US majors - the Masters, US Open and PGA Championship - a beach-head too far, with 14 appearances producing nine missed cuts and a best placing of 12th-equal in the 2000 US Open.

And if there was little to recommend him on the course, off it he had a series of distractions to deal with.

He has employed, sacked and re-employed helpers as if it's a cure-all, only to discover what really matters is how he is striking the ball.

Sports psychologists have come and gone in a blur, needy hangers-on dispensed with and now, it seems, his long-time manager, Andrew Ramsey, has been chopped from Cambo.com.

Ramsey has been in the golfer's corner since 1993, but Campbell's most important asset now seems to be coach Jonathan Yarwood, who this year gave up a fulltime teaching role with swing guru David Leadbetter to pay closer attention to the needs of the Kiwi.

Campbell is no scholar when it comes to the mechanics of the golf swing, but that's no crime. Some golfers are simply more self-sufficient than others.

It seems Campbell has at long last found the formula that suits him best, although an imminent change in his management adds to a sense of uncertainty over which path his career will follow.

But Campbell answered one crucial question yesterday - he does have a backbone of steel.

 

WHAT THEY SAID

1992 Eisenhower-winning team member Grant Moorhead

"He is a real straight, simple thinker about the game. That always used to impress me. He never got bogged down with technicalities, he just got up there and hit it.

"He always hit it well and he was a great putter - he didn't think too much about it.

"When I saw him getting quite technical and thinking about things and he was struggling, I thought he needs to get back to how Michael Campbell thinks and he'll be right.

"He looked pretty secure [today], I thought. It is huge pressure to be under. There are massive crowds, the media are focused on you, you are down the stretch from Tiger Woods, but he stuck to what he had to do.

"It is a huge win, especially after he had to qualify as well ....It is great for New Zealand. It is well overdue.

Former coach Mal Tongue

"I'm just shellshocked. I remember standing on the range 17 years ago and telling him, 'We can win majors'. Sometimes it's hard for people to believe that.

"It just goes to show that with the right pathway you can do whatever you want.

"I admire him greatly. He's had more comebacks than Muhammad Ali.

"He was the first to do so many things - the Eisenhower, the Australian amateur, European rookie of the year. That's like Edmund Hillary climbing his Everest.

"He's always been stubborn, he has a strong mind and he is a fighter. He always had an enormous talent and it's taken a wee while to find the key to unlock it.

"We have to make sure we treat him as a champion for the rest of his life, just like we do Bob Charles."

- NZPA