Almost 13 years on, he cuts a relaxed figure speaking to the Herald — and anyone else who wants to pass the time of day — ahead of commentating this week's New Zealand Open with fellow pros Greg Turner and Phil Tataurangi.
Campbell turned 49 last week. A torn tendon in his left foot kept him out of his home tournament, but he hopes to play the European senior circuit in 2019 when he reaches 50, the minimum age for eligibility.
Retirement has allowed him to spend more time with sons Thomas, 19, and Jordan, 17.
"One's finishing school in Spain, and one's starting civil engineering at university in Sydney.
"One thing I've really enjoyed by not playing over the last four years has been reconnecting with my boys. It's been fantastic as an at-home dad, picking them up from school.
"I've had a normal life the last few years, which has been quite cool. Before that, I'd been away a lot during the past 25 years."
Campbell has also used his retirement to establish two golf academies in Marbella, Spain, where he lives with Swedish fiancée Gunnel.
"I think it was my duty to give back, they have given me a platform to do that," he says of the academies, concepts he wants to bring to New Zealand. "That's one thing I would love to do, maybe come back here eventually and retire.
"Obviously it's nice to have my kids — my 'monsters', I call them — over in Europe. It's also important to have connections with New Zealand Golf. I'd love to start an academy here."
Back in Spain, Campbell says he can "order food and drink to get by" in Spanish "but there's a lot of tourists down that way in Marbella, so we can get away with English. And my fiancée speaks French, German and Spanish, so we're okay."
Campbell announced his retirement from the sport in May 2015.
He has played minimal golf since, preferring to learn how to cook. In a magazine interview last year, he admitted he could barely poach an egg to start with but is now "a bit of a master chef".
That theme has held firm. "All the apps on my phone are about cooking. I love it."
And does he pine for a moment on the 18th green at Pinehurst again?
"[The trophy] does sit on my mantelpiece in Spain, but I haven't referred to it often during the last five or six years.
"Obviously it changed my life forever, and I'm proud of that as a kid who grew up in Titahi Bay. It's not an easy thing to do, but once is enough."
