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BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP


July 15, 2004


Michael Campbell


ROYAL TROON, SCOTLAND

STEWART McDOUGALL: Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Campbell, 67, 4-under par, in second place. Michael, you had a good finish last week at Loch Lomond, second place, and brought the form with you. Is it going to carry on this week?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, absolutely. That's my goal this week, is to play well. And it's a golf course where I've had a lot of luck, good and bad. And that's the way it goes. But I think working with Josh again, we had two years not working together, he's been working with Ernie for the last three years, I started working with him the week of the European Open, he's made a big difference. Changed my mindset, really. Set me down on Tuesday and told me as it is, as he does. He uses a few sweet words, and told me that you're wasting your time, you've got to start winning golf tournaments, he changed my whole mindset very, very quickly and that was it, really.

And today I was very, very comfortable out there today. I had a very, very good start, a quick start. I hit it close on the 6th hole, 3-wood to about six feet away, and I was 3-under after six holes.

And a nice putt on the 9th hole for birdie there. I was 4-under after 9 holes. And on the 10th hole I hit it pin-high, with my second shot. And birdied 15. And then missed opportunities on 16 and 17, really. But besides that, it was a good start to the tournament and I'm pretty happy about it.

Q. I understand Josh has told you you've got to win in the next five weeks so he can take a break, and he's forecasted you're going to win; is that true?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yes, per our conversation last week on Tuesday, yes. He was planning to take two weeks off after this week, but I'm playing the Irish Open and the next week after, too. So hopefully I can cut it short by winning this week and give him two weeks off.

Q. You say that Josh used pretty strong language when he was assessing your game. Is it difficult to stand there and take that?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Absolutely not. I think I needed that encouragement. You could say I was in the comfort zone, I just wanted to have that little -- just cruising along, as I do sometimes. And he came along and told me what he thought, that I was being very lazy and just to go out and play golf. And not to have dreams -- the passion wasn't there anymore. I lost the passion, for some reason. I think I've been comfortable financially and stuff. But now I've got the hunger back, which was missing for the last couple of years, definitely.

I was 15th in the world for 2002, and since then I've dropped back to 60th, 61st in the world, and I want to make amends for the rest of my career. I've got goals now that I can look forward to and strive for really. And my whole mindset and attitude is different than two weeks ago, it's incredible. I'm coming here just to try to win the tournament rather than making the cut now.

Q. You appeared to be dragging yourselves along, you and Stuart, on the front nine, is that so?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: It's incredible, he played great. He came out blazing. It's good to see. The first hole he sunk a nice birdie putt and got it going. And the last hole he sunk a 25-footer for par. Stuart played great. He's a nice lad. And he's got a great future, definitely. But I think every time you play with two other guys -- Mark is a lovely guy to play with. And you feel comfortable out there. We had a nice stroll in the park. And I think Mark shot even par. And between us we're 7-under. It was a good 3-ball.

Q. Do you have any sporting heroes that you look to to help you get extra inspiration and hunger?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Greg Turner (laughter). I'm in control here, so I can say that now, can't I? Well, actually, yeah, Greg. He looked after me when I first came over to Europe back in '93. I was 23 years old and he looked after me and. Yeah, it was Greg and Frank Nobilo. I think to have people from your own country was very, very important for a young kid. But also I think I had a good friend who used to play for the All Blacks back in the late '80s, early '90s. He's retired now, but he was a lot of inspiration. And now we're good friends and I ring him up and say good day, and he points me in the right direction.

Q. Did you feel fortunate playing in the afternoon with not much wind out there, and would you prefer to carry on like that or would you like it to come up?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: You prefer to have wind playing the front nine, and for it to die out in the back nine. But I think the guys who played in the morning had no wind at all. It made the course tougher. It made it longer. The par-5s weren't as reachable as they could have been. You turn around back into the breeze, it's harder as well. The thing to do on the first nine holes, you have to play -- swing with a little fade action, and on the way back you have to swing with a little draw action. You have to bring your A game out here. And I'm very lucky that the wind didn't really increase over the last couple of hours or so.

We played here on Monday and it was brutal. 3-wood on 17, and driver, 2-iron on the last hole. We're fortunate right now not to have any wind. I don't really care whether it's going to be windy or benign conditions, I don't care. As long as it's the same for everybody else, that's the main thing.

Q. Is this the best chance since '95 for you to go away?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: I think so. It's my best start to a major championship since '95, all those years ago.

Q. Seems to be a bit of variation statistically on the front nine, guys hitting -- a lot of guys hitting irons, some hitting irons. Are you being more aggressive on that front side than you'd planned?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: It's amazing. I love this type of game. You stand on the first tee, it's just incredible the options you've got. Pretty much the first nine holes I was very conservative, apart from the par-5s. I hit driver on the 7th hole, but besides that I felt very, very comfortable with the driver in my hand. I was pretty confident to use my driver.

But I think the first six holes you want to make par, on the first, second and third and the fifth hole and make birdies on the 4th and 6th and that was my aim, was to do that in the first six holes and I did that. But it's incredible how many times you get different choices off the tee. Tomorrow might change, who knows.

End of FastScripts.
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