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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 12, 2005

Michael Campbell

ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND

STEWART McDOUGALL: Ladies and gentlemen, we have Michael Campbell.

Michael, first of all, congratulations on your U.S. Open win. Is your game still in good shape for The Open Championship here at St. Andrews?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, I think so. It's been a rocket ride the last three weeks. Had a week off and then played here at The Open at the K Club, and another week off. I've been practicing today and yesterday and a few days last week, just to get the engine warmed up for this week. And it's going well.

Q. What does it say about the state of the Tour when there are more than a handful of guys it seems like that can win major championships and have over the past few years?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, I think all in all it runs great for the game, from Europe to Asia, across America, since Tiger came along eight years ago, nine years ago. He's definitely raised the bar. And we've quickly over those years equaled what he's done. And I think it's great for the game to see different guys win tournaments now. Over the last two or three years now I believe there are a few more surprise winners of major tournaments, which I think is very healthy for the game.

Q. What impact did Tiger have you on?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Made me work harder, that's the bottom line. Made me go to the gym longer, work out harder, practice longer on the range. So he definitely made a huge impact on my career in the last five, six years.

Q. You talked at Pinehurst about all you had overcome the last few years. Can you remember what would have been the low point as far as your game went, when it was and what you might have done had you decided not to play?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, I think I can recall a particular time back in '97. I think I played the French Open and I must have shot 81, 82 or something like that, and that was pretty low then, '96, '97 then. And I thought it was time to pack it in and try something else as a career. And golf wasn't on my mind. I mean I was going through a bit of a hard time through an injury. But I managed to stick in there and just believe in myself and pull through the hard times and it made me a better player, a stronger player. And that's 8, 7 years ago, 9 years ago. And now I'm reaping the rewards by just being very patient. I was close back in '95 to winning this tournament, and I stayed patient for 10 years until my first major. It was worth the wait.

Q. Do you have any idea what you might have done if you had quit golf then?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Probably before I actually turned pro I used to be a telecom technician for a telephone company. So I probably would have went back to that, maybe, fixing telephones.

Q. Is this a very different course this time than the one you played in '95?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yes, very, very different. I think obviously the four changes on the 2nd and 4th and 12th and 14th made a big difference. I played yesterday, and blowing into the breeze on 12 and 14 it made the two holes completely different. The Beardies come into play on 14. And on 12 you have to have a good drive over the bunkers. I think it's 260 yards to carry the bunkers, so it's definitely made the golf course a lot tougher. I think they're good changes. But it's all good, you know. I think what they've done over the years has definitely made the course more of a championship golf course by doing that.

Q. You said you have had to be patient the last ten years (inaudible.)

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: When you have a sniff at winning a major tournament, it's always in the back of your mind. Now I've been labeled a major winner. I think I was labeled a player that could have won a major. So just having the self belief just having self belief and just hanging in there and just having self belief, just thinking to yourself, okay, just go and play, because there's a lot of players out there this week who have won majors. And when I won three weeks ago it's worth the wait. I was very patient because I knew I had the ability to win a golf tournament, win a major. But I didn't realize it until it happened three weeks ago.

Q. How distracting is it to be walking around St. Andrews as the U.S. Open champion? And presumably everybody is talking to you all the time.

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: It's wonderful. A lot of players, caddies, friends of mine, and complete strangers come up to me and shake my hand and say, "Well done." It's kind of neat to have that respect from my fellow peers. I've been really enjoying that. I've had so many accolades and compliments from all my buddies at home, and other golfers, as well. Yeah, it's pretty cool.

Q. Does it make you think you're going to go back to Pinehurst rather than St. Andrews? Do you keep on thinking what you did there?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: No, because it's a switch there. You switch on, switch off very quickly. It's always nice to enjoy the moment when they talk about it. But I can quickly switch back to playing a practice round or playing a particular shot on the golf course. That's no problem at all for me.

Q. We've talked about your low points, but over the past three weeks, what are some of the unexpected high points? People that you heard from that you didn't expect to hear from or maybe a couple of appearances that really touched your heart?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Well, receiving letters, written letters, instead of e mails is kind of nice, from Mr. Nicklaus. Jack Nicklaus wrote me a letter. Arnold Palmer wrote me a letter. I got a phone call from Greg Norman, from the All Blacks. That was pretty cool. All Blacks is a rugby team. That's pretty awesome right now. They won against the Lions three nil. So it's been a wonderful last three weeks for New Zealand. Winning the U.S. Open and the All Blacks kicking the ass off the Lions last week. The Prime Minister of New Zealand, special people out there really makes you wonder what you've actually done. It's a huge thing. I have the pleasure going home in two weeks' time on a ticker tape parade. I want to go back and share the success of what I've done three weeks ago.

Q. Is that Wellington?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Wellington, yeah.

Q. That day in '95 here was very windy, that Sunday when you were ahead and you hadn't had a lot of experience.

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: No, none whatsoever.

Q. In that situation. What types of things that day did you kind of look back from and draw from?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: I remember standing on that first tee and I had no idea what I was doing, to be honest. I nearly missed the fairway on the first hole. You know what that is, it's like a hundred yards wide and I missed it. My mind was racing a lot. I had no way of calming my nerves down. I had a lot of expectations on myself. I thought about consequences. I was too young. I wasn't ready to win. I was not ready to win a major.

But three weeks ago I was very ready to win. And the last way I played was pretty flawless, really. I've seen tapes of it and I was pretty focused on that day, especially the last nine holes. I knew that I had the best guy in the world breathing down my neck and making a bit of a charge. But I sort of held him off with birdies on 12 and 17 and 10 10, 12 and 17 it was. I'm proud.

I look back right now, and looking at what I did three weeks ago, I was just so proud of what I did how I won, because it was my tournament to lose. I was three shots ahead, nine holes to win. It was all out in front of me. Michael Campbell had to work hard and win this tournament, and I did. And I proved to a lot of people, my peers, that I'm there, I'm a serious player, now. I've been labeled as a major winner, so they respect me a lot more. But the most important thing is I proved to myself that I can do it. That's more important than anything else in the world. And I know that if I get to the same situation I can probably handle it quite well.

Q. You were expressing concern about security arrangements and what happened in London. (Inaudible.)

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: I haven't taken much note, really, of what's happened with security the last three or four days. But obviously those comments were on the day after the bombing, so I was quite vulnerable when the reporter rang me up about it. But, yeah, I think if the players feel we're at risk, they should know. All the tournament organizers should know that there's a sense of subject, obviously security around there was very sensitive and if we feel that we've been threatened by terrorists or whatever, we should voice our opinions. And safety is very important. We are just trying to protect you guys as well as us.

But what happened last week is obviously devastating, and which we don't understand. I don't really want to talk about it. I'm not really a politician, I'm a golfer. But if I feel I'm in trouble or maybe in trouble with being with terrorists, I pass on my opinions to The R&A or to any tournament, golf tournament that's being run, whether it's in America or here.

Q. Has there been any occasion where you found yourself looking over your shoulder?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: No, no. The atmosphere has been pretty cool, pretty friendly. There's no sort of animosity or no sort of tension around this week, so it's fine.

Q. You just mentioned kind of in passing playing in America. I understand that you're still going to make Europe your primary base, but with the U.S. Open victory, how much more might American fans get a chance to see you in the coming years?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: A bit more next year. What I'm hoping to do is complete as many tournaments in Europe to complete my Order of Merit. I'm just leading by a few hundred thousand pounds or Euros from Goosie. So my main focus is to win the Order of Merit on the European Tour and then maybe venture on to America in three years' time.

Right now with my family situation, I've got two boys that go to school in England, I'm very settled in England, why change your routine or why change your processes when things are working. I just won a major tournament. Why pick up my family and disrupt their routine as well as mine. It doesn't make sense at all, it's not very logical. So I'm just going to stay put for the next two years, three years, until they get a little older and then maybe venture on to America to win a few greenbacks.

STEWART McDOUGALL: Michael, thank you very much.

End of FastScripts.

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