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WGC NEC INVITATIONAL

August 17, 2005

Michael Campbell

AKRON, OHIO

SCOTT CROCKETT: Okay, Michael, thanks for coming down, as always. A good week last week. Just talk about the PGA and your week there. You had a good week.

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, I think I had my moments in the Open at St. Andrews, and last week sort of validated my U.S. Open victory. The performances over the course of this year, obviously Tiger has had the best record in the majors and I have the next best. That's something I'm very proud of. It's something that I've never dreamed about at the start of the year after missing five cuts in a row. But it's definitely validated my whole career, and I'm pretty excited about the next two or three months coming up.

SCOTT CROCKETT: You're comfortable in that arena so that could take it forward into this week, as well.

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, it's my first World Event this year. World Match Play I missed out, missed out playing Augusta, but I'm looking forward to having these tournaments to play. The golf course is in great shape, once again, so I'm looking forward to the next four days.

Q. You've had good scores here; in 2002 you tied for 11th.

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: I can't remember yesterday, Mate, so I can't remember two years ago, three years ago.

Yeah, it's a golf course that I really enjoy. I believe they lengthened I played the 16th hole, once again. They lengthened it another 15 yards. Look at No. 17 from last week. They lengthened it another 20 yards. Why? I have no idea, and still it played pretty easy. It's not actually the length the solution is not to lengthen the hole, it's to toughen the actual design of the golf hole rather than lengthen the hole, I believe.

Look at some of the great golf courses in Australia like Royal Melbourne. You have a par 3 with a wedge in your hand and you're shooting yourself, whereas last week you're smashing a 4 iron at a par 3. I think they have the whole idea of toughening up the golf courses completely wrong mentality wise right now. Length is obviously not the solution. Design of the golf hole is the solution to the problem here.

Q. Every player seems to be saying the same. Where is this all coming from?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Well, long golfers who don't play the game. They're worrying about having the longest par 5 in U.S. PGA history. It's always been big. I don't know what it is, just a media thing.

Q. Do you think the architects don't know what they're doing or are they just following instructions?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: They're just following instructions. Imagine being on another golf course. Say if I build a golf course in 2010 for a scenario, and I design a golf hole to be the longest par 4 or the longest par 5 in the world. That's a little notch in my little thing, you know, to actually achieve that.

But it'll be beaten in probably another six months' time, just like building the highest building in the world. As soon as one goes up, another year later, somebody else tops it. It's just human nature.

Q. You wouldn't think Augusta would be worried about that and they're lengthening that again. What do you think about that?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Are they? It never stops, does it? Put it this way: I could retire by seven years' time, so 2012. After that I don't really care to be honest.

Q. You'll be at Augusta next year. 4 is going to be 213 yards, 11

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Is it? It's no fun there. It's just a smash, just a slog. It's a power game. There's no finesse in the game.

I've had discussions with myself and a lot of other mates of mine who play the game, and we all feel the same, every single one, about how they're trying to toughen the golf courses up.

Yeah, it's a shame, really. Look at 14 at St. Andrews. Instead of putting it back 40 yards, put two bunkers very close together 300 out and let them try and feed the ball through the gap. I hit driver, 4 iron there I think on the practice day, which another 40 yards back technology has helped all of us, but it's doing it the wrong way by toughening the golf courses up through length rather than toughness of the greens or the design of the hole.

Q. Would you be in favor of limiting the golf ball?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Well, I played with Tiger in the first two rounds at PGA, and he's hitting it so far it's frightening. Angel Cabrera is up there with him, I think, and John Daly, but Tiger is just hitting it so far. He's 40, 50 past me, he's that much longer than me.

I think technology has really helped players with a lot of club head speed, Ernie, Cabrera, John, Tiger more so than myself or Ian Poulter or Paul McGinley, Darren Clarke. It's really helped more so than the top players rather than the average guy like myself. There are a few guys who are long that have gotten the benefit.

But limitation of the golf ball, well, there is no limit right now. I think they should put a stop to something because it's getting ridiculous now. It's just a smash, as I said before. There's no controlled shots now. Nick Faldo, two or three years ago, asked him about technology, how he can't compete anymore because he hasn't the power game for it. He's got the finesse. Every golf course that's 300 yards shorter, he'll be great, but right now he's 20 yards behind me or 10 yards behind me. He'd be 70 yards behind Tiger. He's hitting wedge to a par 4 and Nick's hitting 3 iron to a par 4. You can't compete with that. That's why the likes of Faldo and a few other guys haven't competed because their games, back in the '80s and early '90s were great, but not in the 21st century.

Q. Do you think if Faldo was just coming out now and was the same player, he may not be the great player that he was in his era?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Well, it's hard to say because he's a little bit older now, he's pressing 50, doesn't swing the same, his body structure is different. He's a lot bigger than he was back in the late '80s, early '90s, but yeah, I would say if you had the Nick Faldo of the '80s put into this era now, he would be competing but still not as much as he was back in the '80s because of his length.

You get all the guys now who are winning these tournaments, look at Freddie Couples and Bart Bryant, who won Memorial, I mean, he's 43 years old, 45 years old and they're still competing. They both hit it a long way through technology. Technology helped them more so than other players.

I would say that Nick Faldo of the '80s competing now would probably win a few tournaments but not as many as he did back in the '80s.

Q. A lot of guys look at this tournament as almost like a major. How do you view this? Does it have that appeal, that aura, to you?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Not really because there are only like 73 players playing this week, 73 or something.

Q. 72.

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: 72, so to me, a major is the top 100 players in the world playing, and there's a few less this week. I'm not sure through qualifications how that happens, but it doesn't feel like a major. It's more relaxed atmosphere out there on the range. It's amazing, getting from last week to this week, it's totally different. People in the locker room are more jovial, joking around, having a good time. Two days ago over the weekend you could cut the atmosphere with a knife around the locker room and the players' lounge, but this week it's like a big sigh, it's all over. Now it's a bit of fun. So the answer is no, it doesn't feel like a major to me.

Q. If you finished at 2 under on Sunday night, would you have hung around?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Actually I would have, yes. I would have been on the range Monday morning warming up to a possible playoff. I'm not sure what Tiger did. Was he there?

Q. He went home.

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Did he?

Q. Are you surprised?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, I'm surprised, very surprised. Those last two holes, the last three holes that Phil was playing, anything could happen, especially in that rough. I would have hung around for a playoff maybe.

Q. Wouldn't there have been some intimidation factor if he's out there hitting balls in the morning with those guys?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Maybe, yeah. It could have worked. Psychology? He didn't do it, so Phil won. Simple as that.

Q. You mentioned Faldo with the equipment. You probably didn't see much of him, but what do you think Jack might have done in his prime with today's equipment?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Well, I was playing the first practice round on Monday, played the back nine, saw Jack's plaque, and I was impressed that he hit a 1 iron in there so close with an old ball this big in that direction and that height and stopped it so quickly. It would be frightening. If Jack was playing now in his prime, he would just kill everybody, I believe. His mindset, mental toughness, his game, he would be phenomenal, to watch him play.

Q. How many majors would he have had then?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Oh, amazing.

Q. Do you think Elk has good reason to feel slighted by not getting a captain's pick?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, I was surprised because he played before. He's got great experience. All the guys like Elk. He's a great team man. My picks would have been Elkie and Peter because after a great performance last week, I thought he was actually in. I thought, "Elkie is in, he's our last pick." Gary has got his reasons why he chose Trevor and Peter, and we support his two choices there, and we look forward to playing The Presidents Cup with those two guys on the team.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Michael, thanks very much, as always. Good luck this week.

End of FastScripts.

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