KEY POINTS:
Six months ago, Michael Campbell was hurling grenades in the direction of New Zealand Golf.
Yesterday a love-in broke out between Campbell and the game's administrators over the future of the Open championship.
Campbell's beef last May was that no sponsor had been found for an event he treasures as second closest to his heart after his US Open triumph last year, having won it at Paraparaumu Beach in 2000. At the time, he said "heads must roll" and accused NZG of doing nothing to secure a sponsor.
Yesterday he conceded "I was probably quite aggressive in what I said". But the country's top player emerged from a 45-minute meeting with NZG director Geoff Saunders oozing positivity over the Open's future.
"It was an exciting meeting. There are some wonderful things coming up for the Open and for the country's juniors," Campbell said.
"We were on the same page and I walked away feeling very positive."
Campbell wants to play a greater part in the Open, which has had a grim few months with fears over the size of the loss for the second consecutive year at the Whangaparaoa course.
The Blue Chip-sponsored Open is co-sanctioned by the European and Australasian PGA Tours. That means a certain amount of money must be put up.
One argument is that NZG should cut its cloth and look to place itself on the secondary, less expensive US Nationwide Tour. The snag is that the New Zealand PGA at Clearwater near Christchurch and the Jacobs Creek Classic in Adelaide are already on that circuit. A third event in the region might be pushing it.
The deal with the European Tour runs until 2009, although a spokesman, Richard Hills, was yesterday making soothing noises.
He described the NZG-European Tour situation as "an arrangement rather than a contract" but said Europe would like it to continue.
The reason so few Europeans were at Gulf Harbour was the qualifying event to secure cards for the coming year took longer than expected to complete, and that led to travel difficulties.
The spinoff was more chances for players to make an early mark on their careers at an event they might not normally have got into.
Campbell was coy on what NZG's plans are, tipping more will be made public in about two months.
"There's no way I want to see my national Open go belly up. I want to be more involved," he said.
"I'm not here to point fingers," he added in reference to his verbal bouncers of six months ago. "I'm here to help."
Saunders described the meeting as "informal and fruitful" with further discussions to follow with Campbell and his management team.
"We are thrilled that he is so enthusiastic about supporting the objectives of New Zealand Golf, especially relating to junior golf and the New Zealand Open," he said.
