New Zealand golfer: Michael Campbell
From Taranaki’s country golf courses to the manicured greens of international golfing, New Zealand golfer Michael Campbell made history in 2005 when he became the first Kiwi winner of the US Open.
That victory made Michael Campbell only the second New Zealander, behind legendary 80-title holder Bob Charles, to win a major.
Within 12 months of the US Open, the then 36-year-old Campbell went on to win golf’s richest prize - the £1m HSBC World Match Play Championship - silencing critics who’d claimed the US Open victory was a one-off moment of brilliance.
Career lows and highs
Seven years before his 2005 breakthrough, Campbell had hit a career low losing his cards on the European and Australian tours. After suffering injury and disappointment, he even considered giving up the game.
Campbell’s last minute decision to enter the 2005 US Open and his victory was especially remarkable because he was the only player at Pinehurst that year to finish at par.
The win was especially sweet, for golf fans in New Zealand and around the world, when Campbell broke down in tears on the 18th green, the victory of his life behind him and a whole new world before him.
In the same year, Campbell was awarded Honorary Life Membership of The European Tour.
Long road to top
It had been a long road to the top for Michael Shane Campbell (Cambo) born on February 23, 1969 in the small New Zealand town of Hawera, near Mount Taranaki on the North Island’s west coast.
Campbell’s ancestry is predominantly Māori, from the Ngati Ruanui and Nga Rauru iwi (tribes). He’s also a great-great-great-grandson of John Logan Campbell, a Scotsman who became mayor of Auckland.
Like many young Kiwi boys, Campbell played rugby and dreamed of becoming an All Black, but gave it up for his mother who thought the game was "too rough". While he showed talent for other sports - softball, squash, table tennis - his passion became golf.
Best in the world
Encouraged by his father and uncle Roger Rei, Campbell was seven when he began playing on the rural Patea golf course. His father Tom Campbell was a single-figure handicapper.
When the family moved south to Titahi Bay near Wellington, Campbell continued to develop his skills. He joined the Titahi Bay Golf Club at 10 years old, and had a handicap of 11 by age 12 when he said: "I want to be a professional golfer and be the best in the world."
Within four years he had broken the Titahi Bay course record, was representing Wellington in junior golf teams, and began playing for national amateur golf teams from age 18.
Campbell turned professional in January 1993.
Early career highlights
- 1993 Canon Challenge (Australasian) tour winner (5th start)
- 1994 Challenge Tour (Europe) - won three events / full European Tour card
- 1995 Open Championship (St Andrews) - led after three rounds / tied 3rd
- 1995 European Tour Order of Merit (4th) / world ranking #23
- 1995 Dunhill Masters (Malaysia) winner
- 1996 NZ Open - injured wrist / sidelined until March 1996 / struggled to regain previous form / lost European Tour playing rights
- 1997 played sponsors exemptions / European Tour Qualifying School
- 1998 regained his card
- 1999 Johnnie Walker Classic winner
- 2000 winner of Heineken Classic / Australian Masters / German Masters / New Zealand Open / world ranking #14
- 2001 European and PGA Tour events - Heineken Classic winner
- 2002 Bay Hill Invitational (2nd) / Smurfit European Open winner
- 2003 Nissan Irish Open winner
- 2004 Scottish Open (2nd)
2005 breakthrough
In 2005, after the USGA introduced an international qualifier for the US Open, Campbell was a last minute entry, claiming one of nine exempt spots.
On the dramatic final day, ‘Cambo’ kept his cool under immense pressure to hold off a charging Tiger Woods on the back nine and win his first major championship. The New Zealand Parliament start time was delayed while ministers followed Campbell’s progress over the closing holes.
Campbell confirmed his new status as a major player by finishing 5th at the Open Championship, then 7th at the US PGA. His second victory of the season came at the HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth, where he beat fellow US Open champion and top seed Retief Goosen in the semi-finals, before overcoming Paul McGinley in a tense final.
Building on success
While the US Open victory is undoubtedly the high point in his professional career so far, Campbell says he is looking forward to the challenge of building on this success.
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.
Michael Campbell was awarded a New Zealand Order of Merit in 1999.
More information:
Profile - Danny Lee
Profile - Sir Bob Charles
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