Michael Campbell

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Michael Shane Campbell CNZM (born February 23, 1969) is a New Zealand golfer who is best-known for having won the 2005 US Open and the richest prize in golf, the £1,000,000 HSBC World Match Play Championship, in the same year. He is a member of the European Tour.

Ethnically, he is predominantly Māori, from the Ngati Ruanui (father's side) and Nga Rauru (mother's side) iwi. He also has some Scottish ancestry, being a great-great-great-grandson of John Logan Campbell, a Scottish emigrant to New Zealand who became mayor of Auckland and who was sometimes described by contemporaries as the "Father of Auckland".

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[edit] Profile

Campbell was born in Hawera, Taranaki. As a young child he lived near his father’s Wai-o-Turi marae at Whenuakura, just south of Patea, and also spent much of his time with whanau at his mother’s Taiporohenui marae, near Hawera.

Like many young New Zealand boys, he dreamed of playing for the All Blacks, and began playing rugby, but his mother vetoed his participation. While he was talented at several other sports, such as softball, squash and table tennis, his passion turned out to be golf.

He began playing golf at age 7, on the Patea golf course which had the greens fenced to keep sheep off them. He was introduced to the game by an uncle, Roger Rei, but was also undoubtedly influenced by his father Tom Campbell who was a single-figure handicapper. The family moved south to Titahi Bay and Campbell developed his skills in junior ranks at Paraparaumu.

He began representing New Zealand in international amateur competitions in 1988, and turned professional in 1993. Two years later, in his first full season on the European Tour, he had a two-shot lead after the third round of The Open Championship, but faded to a final-round 76. He nonetheless remained in contention until the final hole, missing a playoff (eventually won by John Daly) by one stroke. Not long after that Open, he developed wrist problems, dropping dramatically in form, and did not fully recover until 1998.

He eventually established himself as a solid tour performer, finishing fourth on the European Tour Order of Merit (money list) in 2000, and again finishing in the top ten of the Order of Merit in 2002.

He won the PGA Tour of Australasia's Order of Merit in 1999/2000.

[edit] Breakthrough year, 2005

The year 2005 started as if it would be Campbell’s annus horribilis but it developed into his annus mirabilis. He never made the cut in his first five 2005 tournaments, averaging 75 strokes in the first rounds of each of those tournaments. Then suddenly there was a turnaround, and he missed only one cut in the next 16 tournaments. He finished in the top six of the British Open and US PGA, and recorded top fives in three other tournaments.

And then there was the 2005 US Open. In order to make it to Pinehurst, Campbell had to go through sectional qualifying. He took advantage of the fact that the United States Golf Association, the organizers of the US Open, introduced European qualifying for the first time. He had to sink a 6-foot birdie putt on the last hole of qualifying to secure his place in the US Open.

He ended the third round four strokes behind Retief Goosen, the event's defending champion who looked ready for a coronation on Sunday. On the final day, Goosen ballooned to an 81. Campbell shot 69 (1 under par) for the final round and was the only golfer in the last two pairings of the day to break 80. Campbell's main competition turned out to be Tiger Woods, who at one point closed to within one shot of Campbell.

In the end, Woods was undone by bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes, and Campbell won his first major by two shots, carding even par of 280. With his win, he became only the second New Zealander to win a major (after Bob Charles), and also the first winner of the US Open since Steve Jones in 1996 who entered the event via sectional qualifying.

Two months later, in August, Campbell demonstrated he is consistently one of the world's top contenders when he tied for 6th in the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, won by Phil Mickelson. It has long been said that the cream rises to the top in majors, and this was no exception, with eight of the top 10 finishers having previously won a major.

On October 29, 2005, Campbell was awarded with the Honorary Life Membership of The European Tour for his U.S. Open win.

[edit] Match play champion

In September Campbell again displayed his consistency, plus several patches of brilliance, when he won the HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth. He disposed of Australian Geoff Ogilvy 1-up before being taken to the 37th by another Australian, Steve Elkington, in the quarter final.

In the semi final he faced the formidable Retief Goosen who the previous day had recorded an overwhelming 12 and 11 win over Mark Hensby. Campbell defeated Goosen 7 and 6 and the next day beat Irishman Paul McGinley 2 and 1 in the final to take the championship and win the £1,000,000 richest prize in golf. He became only the fourth golfer to win the US Open and the World Match Play titles in the same year, and the win moved him to the top of the European Order of Merit, ahead of Goosen. He finished the year ranked second on the Order of Merit.

Campbell and wife Julie and sons Thomas and Jordan have homes in his native New Zealand, at Sydney in Australia which is Julie's hometown, and in Brighton, England.

[edit] Victories

Amateur wins

  • 1992 Australian Amateur Championship, New South Wales Amateur Championship

PGA Tour of Australasia

European Tour

Challenge Tour

  • 1994 Memorial Olivier Barrass, Bank of Austria Open, Audi Quattro Trophy

[edit] Results in major championships

Tournament 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Masters DNP DNP CUT DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open DNP DNP T32 DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship CUT T3 DQ DNP T66 CUT
PGA Championship DNP T17 CUT DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
The Masters DNP CUT CUT CUT CUT DNP CUT
U.S. Open T12 CUT CUT CUT CUT 1 CUT
The Open Championship CUT T23 CUT T53 T20 T5 T35
PGA Championship CUT CUT T23 T69 T49 T6 CUT

DNP = Did not play
DQ = Disqualified
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

[edit] Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Retief Goosen		 U.S. Open Champion
2005		 Succeeded by
Geoff Ogilvy
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