Kiwi Campbell is inspired by Lefty’s near-miss of record 62
WATCHING Phil Mickelson come within an inch of a 62 and a new record-low score at a Major got the competitive juices flowing for Michael Campbell.
The New Zealander is at Royal Troon working for Fox Sports Asia, having retired from competitive golf in 2013.
But seeing Mickelson, less than 18 months his junior, tearing it up round the links could be the cue for him to get the clubs out again.
“It’s great to be here among the atmosphere of The Open,” says the former US Open champ.
“I am starting to miss playing now. What I miss is the competition. The thing I enjoyed most about this game is competing against the best players in the Majors.
“It was the right thing for me to stop when I did. You wake up one day and think: ‘I’ve had enough’.
“It was the end of 2013, I wasn’t playing great and this game can beat you up, so I decided to stop. I’m not saying I’m going to retire for ever but I need to rekindle that burning ambition to play well again.
“I’m 47 now, and the Seniors’ Tour is only three years away.”
Campbell’s career was littered with incredible peaks and troughs. At his best, he was good enough to hold off TigerWoods to win the US Open in 2005. At his worst, he would miss cuts for weeks on end.
But he still regrets the fact he didn’t win The Open. He led after three rounds in 1995 at St Andrews but couldn’t last on
the final day and John Daly took the Claret Jug.
“It was always a dream of mine to win The Open when I was younger,” he recounts. “My game suited this type of golf as I grew up playing these types of courses in New Zealand.
“I was very close in ’95, but it was my first year on Tour and I wasn’t ready for it. There I was, shunted into the limelight, leading after three rounds and I missed out on the play-off with Daly and Costantino Rocca by one shot.
“I was disappointed but I learned a lot. Ten years later, I had accumulated 10 professional victories and I was ready to win.
“The thing I really enjoyed about that week at the US Open was how I did it.
“Tiger Woods was in his absolute pomp. He had already won The Masters that year and would go on to win The Open a few weeks later.
“Lots of players saw him chasing them down and faltered. I saw it as an opportunity and not a threat. It was very nice to stop him.”