What ever happened to Micheal Campbell ??

Hands up those of you who aren't Kiwi's who can remember Micheal Campbell ??

He is just a shot off the lead at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco half way through the 1st round, and that is something I haven't been able to say in nearly 6 years..

There are a few guys out there, Ian Baker Finch, Chip Beck, Corey Pavin for a long time, come to mind who were major players in pro golf then for a myriad of reasons fell right out of form and in Baker Finch's case, couldn't break 80 in competition.

Micheal Campbell  is in that group. Since he won the 2005 US Open Champion and the 2005 World Matchplay he has  suffered a string of injury problems and slipped to 827th in the Official World Golf Ranking


The New Zealander, who made only one cut last season and has only featured at the weekend this year at the Sicilian Open, shot 69 on the Palais Royal layout to share third with Wales' Bradley Dredge, Scot Peter Whiteford and American Jason Knutzon.

"I can take a lot of confidence from this score," said Campbell. "It's been a real struggle for me the last couple of years, struggling with injuries and what-not, so to finally get a good score under my belt is good. "This game is all about confidence and once you get a couple of good rounds under your belt the game gets a little easier.

"We are staying in a really nice hotel, the Sofitel, and it's all about relaxing away from the course and getting away from it when you're not playing."

Campbell 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 during the 1999/2000 season.


The year 2005 started out as if it would be a disaster year for Campbell, however in the end, it developed into the peak of his career. 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 both the Open Championship and US PGA, and recorded top-five placings in three other tournaments.

And then there was the 2005 US Open. Campbell 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 an even par of 280. With his win, he became only the second New Zealander to win a major (after Bob Charles). He returned home to Christchurch a national hero
Two months later, in August, Campbell consolidated his new status as one of the world's top contenders when he tied for 6th in the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, won by Phil Mickelson.On 29 October 2005, Campbell was awarded with the Honorary Life Membership of The European Tour for his US Open win.

Campbell again displayed his consistency, plus several patches of brilliance, when he won the HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth. He beat Irishman Paul McGinley 2 and 1 in the final to take the championship and win the £1,000,000 richest prize at the time in golf. 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.

Since then he has completely lost the ability to play tournament golf. In 2009 he made only 4 cuts. In 19 events in 2010 on the world’s second-biggest circuit , he missed the halfway cut as many as 16 times. Only twice did he shoot rounds in the 60s; on nine occasions he soared into the 80s. And his winnings – a paltry €13,576 (approximately $18,355). He made the cut 4 times world wide.

Nagging wrist injuries, loss of confidence had him so down he decided  just to get away from the game for a while, then he went back to his old US Open coach Gary Edwin late last year.

 " He has so much talent, it didn’t take him long for him to get back to ‘flushing’ it. He was funny too; he told me he hadn’t hit a fade in five years. Now he’s striking the ball beautifully, with that flight only the best players have. Once he starts putting better, he’ll be back in contention before long.".

So far it looks like the coach was right !!

(notes and research from europeantour.com, wikopedia..)

Bryan Angus