Golf: Confident Campbell ready for Open

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WELLINGTON - Michael Campbell reckons next week's New Zealand Open golf title is his for the taking.

Campbell arrived here from his Sydney base this week, and has spent the past few days relaxing with family and fulfilling sponsors' commitments.

He and fellow professionals Stephen Scahill and Marcus Wheelhouse yesterday spent a long sesion with their American based coach, Jonathan Yarwood, who flew in this week to fine-tune the trio before the Open.

This is Campbell's 12th open, and the 30-year-old has not had a great run at New Zealand's premier golf tournament. But this one felt different, Campbell said.

"I'm going to work hard this week on my game, and I feel it's probably the best chance I've had to win."

"The way I've been playing, the three weeks off not playing golf at all, coming back and seeing my coach for three or four days before the open - I think it's a perfect formula."

Paraparaumu Beach will be a tough challenge, but the windswept links course with its narrow fairways and long rough holds few fears for him.

"It's one of the best golf courses in New Zealand, and I've always enjoyed playing there.

"I'm trying to create a lower flight of the ball, because of the wind. There's a few things I have to work on, but nothing too serious, and hopefully by the end of this week I'll have it down pat."

Campbell's golfing resurrection gathered pace in November when he won the Johnnie Walker Classic in Taiwan.

As well as South African star Ernie Els, Campbell handed superstar Tiger Woods his first tournament defeat in five starts, after Woods had won four in succession on the American PGA Tour.

After a long struggle with injury and then form, his performance in Taiwan helped eliminate doubts that Campbell had the mental toughness to win big.

"It's a different situation every time I play a golf tournament. Now my peers are looking at me to win, not to make up the numbers.

"It gives me a lot of respect in that sense, and that's a nice feeling."

Meanwhile, New Zealand golf legend Sir Bob Charles loves the Paraparaumu Beach course, but he'd love it more if all its trees were chopped down.

Paraparaumu is rated in the top 100 courses in the world but Charles, 64, wants to see the course revert to more like a Scottish-style windswept venue, such as the Royal St Lytham course where he won his 1963 British Open title.

"It's almost a links course, but they've got too many trees on it,'' Charles said.

"They should chop all the trees down and give it a total links nature.''

Charles has enjoyed considerable success at the course, including winning the 1966 New Zealand Open, and holds the course record of 62, which he set in 1968 at the Caltex tournament.

- NZPA