NEW DELHI: For Michael Campbell , life after the 2005 US Open golf triumph was sweet madness. There was a ticker-tape parade in Wellington with 120,000 people welcoming him home after the pathbreaking victory. “‘It was the second-best parade in New Zealand history’, the organizer had said, and my ego was a little deflated,” Cambo, here for the India Legends Championship, recalled, laughing.
“‘Who was the first?’ I was curious. “‘Oh, the Beatles!’ came the reply. “I said ‘I can handle that’.
“Then I realised I had made a huge impact here. I even stopped Parliament proceedings for a day.” It was a magical mystery tour, and he was ready to ‘carry the weight’ of his grandmother Titihuia’s words.
“When I was 10 years old, my grandma said I was going to be great but then, I must remember one thing — we are given two hands for a reason, one to receive and one to give!” It was his calling. “I was quite an unusual kid growing up because I wanted bigger things in life. Most of my friends wanted to have a nine-tofive job, which is fair enough.
But I knew deep down in my soul that I could do something to make a difference. A lot of doubters said Maoris don’t play golf on a professional level. Maoris played rugby.
So, I broke a lot of barriers. I used that as motivation.” And the reaction to his major win was the vehicle for change.
“I wanted to share my success with my people and take the trophy to the kids, inspire them. I came from a very humble background. The golf course where I started, there’s sheep everywhere so there were fences around the greens.
My family couldn’t afford tees, so I used dried-up sheep poop to tee the ball up. I wanted to share my stories with kids who thought they were not good enough, that if you believe in yourself, everyone’s good at something.” While rugby, much like cricket in India, is all pervasive in New Zealand, there is room for golf now and Campbell believes he has done his bit for the community and the country.
“Whenever I go back home now, I see the demography has changed. It’s less of a white man’s sport — I’m gonna say it. There’s more diversity.
The clubs are more open to kids playing junior golf. I think I’ve got something to do with that, which is nice.” Also ‘nice’ was his trip to Pinehurst earlier this year for a US Open recall.
“I haven’t been back since I won 19 years ago, so, obviously, the floodgates opened. Seeing the golf course - different visually now - walking around, just going through my last round, reliving those memories was a wonderful thing. But the biggest buzz for me was the players I’ve never met before.
Scottie Scheffler wanted all the secrets and tips; Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, the guys who came on tour after me, all shook my hand and said congratulations. What I got from that week was the new-found respect from this generation of players.” Pretty cool.
Just like the way he handled pressure on June 19, 2005. The way he tamed a charging Tiger. “Woods was playing in front of me and there were 50,000 people following him, 5000 watching me.
You could hear it, feel the energy. And I just had this vision of them cheering for me. No psychologist taught me that.
It just came from the golfing gods. He had won Augusta two months before. This one line really stuck with me — I see this as an opportunity, not a threat.
So I enjoyed the moment, and I felt I was good enough to win.” He was playing a game within a game also. His goal was to buy a second-hand Porsche, worth around £25,000.
“I wrote ‘911’ on my golf ball to remind me. After three rounds, I quickly crossed that goal out and put down ‘brand new Porsche’ because I knew I was going to be top ten. As the final day went on, I thought, time for an upgrade to a GT.
Great car. Love it.” Love the story.
“I was picturing the colour, the brake calipers, the interiors during the last nine holes of my win.” So, along with a prestigious shiny silver trophy — for which he had to shell out £5000 worth of repair work after a customary intoxicating evening — he got a Seal Grey beauty..
