WHEN he held off Tiger Woods to win the US Open at Pinehurst last year, Michael Campbell brought government business to a halt in his homeland of New Zealand, knocked the All Blacks rugby union team off the back pages of the newspapers and was afforded a tickertape welcome through the streets of Wellington.
And while Campbell smiles readily when looking back on his triumph, a frown soon crosses his brow when asked about the treatment he has since received at the hands of the PGA Tour in America.
Campbell, 36, is paying for his decision to turn his back on the US tour after taking up membership in 2003 and then walking out after only 11 events, having missed the cut in ten of them and been disqualified in the other. He should have committed himself to a minimum of 15 tournaments, but Europe was where he felt comfortable and that, young family in tow, was where he headed.
As a result, the PGA Tour has restricted the New Zealander to a maximum of ten events for the past two seasons and has refused to relax the ruling this year, even though, as US Open champion, Campbell is heavily in demand from tournaments and sponsors. He has received about ten invitations so far but can accept no more than three because the four major championships and three World Golf Championship events count towards his allocation.
“I feel my wings are being clipped,” Campbell, who is here preparing for the Johnnie Walker Classic, which starts tomorrow, said. “I’ve received invitations from the Byron Nelson, Jack’s tournament (the Memorial), Doral, Honda, Barclays. The list goes on.”
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Campbell, who is based in Brighton, said that he met PGA Tour officials (although not Tim Finchem, the commissioner) before Christmas to ask permission to play two or three more events. They were unmoved, telling him that he could rejoin the tour but would have to play a minimum of 15 tournaments.
“I shake my head. They are sitting in front of me saying these things and I’m thinking, ‘This is not right,’ ” Campbell said. “If you think about it logically, sponsors want the US Open champion to play their tournament. The exposure I’ve had in America is wonderful and the support I’ve had from America is great. It’s the major stage for golf and I would love to play two more extra tournaments there. But they said to me, ‘Why don’t you play three more and make it 15?’ ” While he plans to take up membership in 2007, his priority this year is to try to win the European Tour’s order of merit. “I’m asking a favour from the US tour, to be more flexible,” Campbell said. “I know that rules are there for a reason, to protect the game, I can’t change that, (but) I thought two extra tournaments was not a big deal, and it wasn’t possible.”
Campbell played in the Mercedes Championship in January and plans to play at Bay Hill and The Players Championship in the build-up to the Masters in March. It means that he will have no practice in the United States immediately before his defence of the US Open title at Winged Foot in June, which is a strange way to treat a major champion.
“I don’t want to cause any animosity between myself and the PGA Tour — I want to go there feeling welcomed by the players and officials — but I would say I’m a little disappointed,” Campbell said. “I think it’s important to voice your opinion and now, since becoming US Open champion, my opinion matters. Before it was, like, ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter what Michael Campbell says.’ But people listen now.”