Golf: Emotion pours out as Campbell tames field

Michael Campbell with the trophy after yesterday's historic victory. Picture / Reuters

Michael Campbell shook up two worlds by winning the US Open in consummate style yesterday.

His life will never be the same again after he withstood a concerted challenge from American superstar Tiger Woods to collect just the second major golf title by a New Zealander.

Forty-two years after Sir Bob Charles set a benchmark for this country by winning the British Open, Campbell fired a closing round one-under 69 on a notoriously difficult Pinehurst course to match the effort of Woods.

That gave him an even-par 280, two strokes clear of Woods and five ahead of Spaniard Sergio Garcia, Tim Clark, of South Africa, and Australian Mark Hensby.

Over and above his winning cheque of US$1.17 million ($1.65 million) Campbell's value skyrocketed.

Some estimates put his career-defining performance as netting him five times as much in off-course earnings.

While a tearful Campbell battled to come to terms with bringing the world's best to their knees, the golfing world itself was left shaken.

Campbell slipped in under the radar at Pinehurst, where a world ranking of No 80 meant he was ignored in all the pre-championship banter about likely winners.

That was not surprising, based on the fact he was forced to pre-qualify - an ignominy he survived in England - to book his place at Pinehurst.

The enormity of his accomplishment was still sinking in several hours after Campbell sunk a short bogey putt on the 72nd hole to seal the deal.

Congratulatory hugs from caddie Michael Waite and another New Zealander, Steve Williams, bagman for Woods, quickly followed.

Campbell's relief was evident as he made his way to the scorers' hut to confirm the details of a round full of character.

Until his tears, Campbell carried himself with a regal air that enabled him to withstand a prowling Woods, and overhaul overnight leader Retief Goosen, of South Africa.

Campbell later said his emotions welled up when he thought of family and friends.

"It's been a journey, my career. I was thinking about people back home in New Zealand, and my wife, Julie, who is in England right now, and my two boys, Thomas and Jordan, because they couldn't be with me," he said.

" ... all my relatives back home watching me, all the people back home watching me, I could feel that. I could feel them - how proud they were of me. And that started me off."

Campbell had to put his celebrations briefly on hold when he missed a short putt to seal the title. He made no mistake with his second.

"Just having that putt to win the major championship, you dreamed about that as a kid," he told a media conference in which he recalled skipping school as a youngster to watch the US Open on television.

"I've worked really hard for this, had ups and downs through my whole career, but it's worth the work. It's amazing.

"It's just completely changed my whole career now. I mean this is what I practice for and I just can't believe I'm holding this trophy."

Two-time US champion Goosen imploded quickly yesterday, squandering the three-shot advantage he held on the field overnight to blow out of contention with an 81.

Campbell, four back of Goosen in fourth place entering yesterday, started serenely with a birdie on the first.

Five successive pars saw him leading a major championship for the first time since 1995, when he topped the leaderboard after three rounds of the British Open.

On that occasion he was overtaken and had to settle for a share of third; yesterday he was not to be headed.

Only Woods made a run at him, a customary charge on the back side featuring three birdies which lifted him to within touching distance.

But every time Woods bared a claw, Campbell swatted him away.

After nine holes his advantage over Goosen was one shot, and he was ahead of Woods and American long-shot Jason Gore by two.

Goosen slipped by the wayside at the next before Campbell slotted a 7m birdie putt on the par-five 10th to maintain his advantage over Woods.

Another clutch birdie followed for the Wellington player on the 12th when he drained an 8m putt, giving him a three-stroke buffer over Woods, the most dominant player of his generation.

A pivotal moment came at No 15 when Campbell saved par from a greenside bunker while Woods bogeyed that hole to leave him three back with just two to play.

Campbell and Woods dropped shots at No 16 while Campbell drained a 5m birdie putt on the 17th, a hole Woods had bogeyed.

Woods did what he could to apply pressure by posting a birdie on the last, but Campbell had breathing space. He could afford to miss a one-metre par putt before sinking a virtual tap-in to confirm a victory few outside the Campbell family would have dared hope for.

Campbell arrived at Pinehurst quietly confident of doing well after coming off three top-10 finishes in Europe this year.

He was playing for more than pay cheque, though; his creditability was at stake in the US where he endured a nightmare campaign in 2003 when a succession of missed cuts saw him high tail it back to Europe.

He appeared remarkably composed when the pressure went on, betraying his emotions only by sprinting off the course on several occasions to take a comfort stop.

"I think it was nerves, to be honest, definitely nerves," Campbell said of his brief and unscheduled detours.

"I drank a lot of water out there, but it was definitely nerves. I think I went to the bathroom probably about five times, so I was very nervous."

Woods paid tribute to Campbell, complementing him for the manner in which he had turned his career around following a serious wrist injury in the late 1990s and a later form slump.

"Look at his career. He was playing real well, then all of a sudden, he lost it," Woods said. "He did a fantastic job of coming back, from a person missing cut after cut after cut, to now, a person who is the US Open champion.

"That's a lot of work right there, and he should be very proud of it."

MICHAEL CAMPBELL

Born: February 23, 1969, in Hawera.

Amateur career: Won Australian amateur championship in 1992, member of first New Zealand team to win Eisenhower Trophy world championship in 1992.

1993: Turned pro.

Victories

1993: Canon Challenge (Sydney).

1994: Memorial Olivier Barrass, Bank Austria Open, Audi Quattro Trophy (all secondary Challenge Tour, Europe).

1995: Alfred Dunhill Masters, Malaysia.

1999: Johnnie Walker Classic, Taiwan.

2000: New Zealand Open, Paraparaumu, Heineken Classic, Perth, Ericsson Masters, Melbourne, German Masters, Cologne.

2001: Heineken Classic, Perth.

2002: European Open, Dublin.

2003: Irish Open, Portmarnock.

2005: US Open, Pinehurst.

Estimated tournament earnings: $18.8 million.

- NZPA