Golf: Close encounter with rake clips Campbell's wings

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SYDNEY - A bunker rake began a difficult round that brought New Zealand golfer-of-the-moment Michael Campbell back to earth on the first day of the $A2 million ($2.6 million) Greg Norman International tournament in Sydney yesterday.

Campbell's first shot of the day was in good shape but landed on a bunker rake sitting on the edge of the fairway and skewed wickedly into the rough, leading to a bogey which contributed to his one-over-par 74.

Winner of the last two Australasian Tour events, Campbell finished the day in the middle of the field but eight strokes behind two unlikely leaders, Gary Emerson, of England, and Maarten Lafeber, of the Netherlands.

They played in cooler, calmer morning weather to card seven-under 66s. There was a shot back to Scot Andrew Coltart and Australian Peter Senior, who were a stroke clear of a multi-national group of five golfers on five-under.

Campbell said he sensed it would not be his day after striding down the first fairway and seeing what the offending implement had done.

"I didn't like what I saw when I got there. I had to chip out of rough and caught some more rough in front of the green, so I was about 40 feet away," Campbell said, suggesting that it could have been a case of the golfing gods getting their own back.

"I was unlucky there and probably on a couple of other holes today, but you have to take the good with the bad. I could probably say I've had some good breaks over the last couple of weeks. You just have to carry on."

Campbell looked as though he was ready to repeat his brilliant recent form after the setback on the first. With exemplary approach play and clinical putting, he rattled off consecutive birdies on the par-four fourth, fifth and sixth holes. However, he could not maintain that form, bogeying the eighth, ninth and 10th.

Eight pars rounded out his day, with the best shots being recovery efforts on and near the green.

Campbell was pleased with how he held firm towards the end on the most challenging holes as the wind increased.

Of the other Kiwis, Matthew Lane finished even par, David Smail one-over, Greg Turner and Steve Alker both three-over and Stephen Scahill five-over.