Campbell seals play-off win

New Zealander Michael Campbell came out of the golfing wilderness with a play-off win in the Nissan Irish Open at Portmarnock tonight.

After the 34-year-old had tied with Peter Hedblom and Thomas Bjorn on the 11-under-par mark of 277, Hedblom having made a dramatic 25-foot par putt on the last which he said “felt like 50”, the play-off was delayed because of a thunderstorm.

It was the latest of a succession of downpours during the day, but easily the heaviest and the sudden death shoot-out, which should have begun at 6.45pm, did not kick off for another 40 minutes.

When it got under way at last Campbell quickly looked like the winner when his second shot to the green came to rest within a couple of inches of the hole, making a birdie on the par-four, 411-yard 18th with ease.

Both Open runner-up Bjorn and Hedblom played decent approach shots.

But the Swede, who lost a play-off to Padraig Harrington for the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open in Hamburg in May with a bogey at the first, took his second runners-up spot in two weeks when his nine iron missed by inches.

After his win Campbell said: “It has been a long time and it was hard. Thomas played great today and I managed to get lucky on the last hole.

“I felt very comfortable, even after 13 months or so, but it is quite strange.

“I’d like to thank my coach, my family and my friends. Three years ago my parents saw me win so it was nice for them to see me win again.

“Portmarnock is definitely one of the best tournaments I have played in. The whole foundation, everything about it makes it a wonderful week.”

Campbell has endured a miserable run in the United States and his win today marks a well-deserved turnaround in fortunes.

Just to be in contention again was a massive step forward for Campbell after what he went through in America. His record there this season almost defies belief for a player who began the year as the world’s 18th best player.

He missed nine out of nine halfway cuts and the only three cheques he earned were merely for showing up – at the Accenture World Match Play, the Masters and the US Open.

He quit the Bay Hill Invitational in March after taking 10 at the first hole and at the Players Championship a week later slumped to an opening 89 and was disqualified for signing for a wrong score.

“It’s like an alien has taken over my body,” he said then.

Eventually the decision was made to abort the mission and return to Europe.

“The hardest thing was spending 12 weeks on the road. Never again,” he states firmly. “The kids got really, really ratty and it was very unsettling to be travelling that length of time with them, two nannies and my wife.

“Being a creature of comfort, coming back to Europe seemed to turn my whole game around again. We kept our place in Brighton and coming back felt like coming home.

“The US Tour is brutal, relentless. There’s a nice feeling of more freedom in Europe.

“There’s more intensity in the States. The money they play for is just ridiculous and it’s definitely cut-throat.

“When I was struggling over there I didn’t really notice people coming up to me on the range and saying much. Nick Price did, but he’s always been great to me. I had to rely on my family and friends to come through it.”

Every golf follower knows how good he can be. At 26 Campbell led the 1995 Open at St Andrews by three with a round to play and missed the play-off between John Daly and Costantino Rocca by one shot.

He was fifth on the Order of Merit that season, fourth in 2000 – after a serious wrist injury which he feared would end his career – and eighth last year, a campaign highlighted by his victory in the European Open at the K Club west of Dublin.

Now, north of the city, he has re-ignited his career.

“I never doubted I would,” he said. “I’ve been through it before and I didn’t like it. I knew I had the determination and the support I’ve had from my close circle has been great.”

Birdie putts of 15 and 10 feet on the ninth and 10th had put Campbell two clear, but he bogeyed the next and was caught both by a charging Hedblom, who had a hat-trick of birdies from the 14th, and by Bjorn’s two-putt birdie at the long 16th, where Campbell missed his chance by driving into a pot bunker.

After Hedblom holed a long-range putt at the 18th to draw level, Campbell had a similar length effort for the title, but did not give it enough break and so went into sudden death to try for his first win since the K Club 12 months ago.

Joint fourth on nine under were England’s David Lynn and British Masters champion Greg Owen, who scored 73 and 72 respectively.