home

jobs

	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

May 23, 2006

Michael Campbell

VIRGINIA WATERS, ENGLAND

RODDY WILLIAMS: Michael, thanks very much for coming and joining us. Welcome to the BMW Championship.

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Thank you.

RODDY WILLIAMS: First of all, have you recovered from the conditions of last week, and how do you feel coming into the players' flagship here?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Last week was a very long week for everyone I think. It was nice to see the back of the golf course. Everyone was pretty frustrated with conditions and weather and stuff.

So it's nice to come here to a golf course where you're starting from the same page. No one has played it before except for Ernie probably and a few other guys. Everyone starts on the same page. I haven't played the golf course yet, probably play tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

Coming back to a golf course where you've won before, the World Match Play, brings very fond memories. So I'll be feeding off those memories for the next four days. I want to add this event, stroke play event, to my match play event last year. So it would be nice to win both the stroke play event and match play event.

RODDY WILLIAMS: You mentioned the course changes. Have you spoken to Ernie about them?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: No, I haven't seen him. What I've heard so far on the range is very positive, very positive changes. Obviously length has added to most of the holes, and a few bunkers there on certain holes as well, and it plays tough, but fair. We'll see what's going to be like tomorrow when I play the golf course for the first time.

RODDY WILLIAMS: Obviously an important week for all the players here. What does this tournament mean to you personally?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: I think it means a great deal. It's one of the premiere tournaments we play each year. And to be associated with such a great company, BMW, as well, is a great thing for The European Tour. We've seen some huge improvements already. I think it's been their second or third year as the title sponsor, and they have done a great job. Just how they have prepared the golf course facilities now, it's been vastly improved over the last couple years.

But, yeah, it's very important for the players. This is one of the main our biggest events on the calendar year. It would be nice to win this one. I've come close a few times, many Top 10s, so I'm looking forward to hopefully lift that trophy on Sunday.

Q. You just mentioned some memories, how much of an advantage do you think that gives you?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Huge, a huge advantage, and also with the crowd and the local people who watch here, they are great supporters of mine. I've seen them, felt them and it's nice to come back to a golf course where you've won before. I know it's a different format than match play, but it's very, very important. If you can fill your cup up with positive stuff, it's going to help you perform during the course of the week.

So it's so much fun coming back to a golf course where you've played well before, definitely. Like going back to St. Andrews for me is the same sort of feeling. Going back to other golf courses, too, is great, so I'm looking forward to it.

Q. And having won at Pinehurst, is it tough to fair you'd want it every week?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, I'd say you wouldn't see double figures winning this week due to the toughness of the course now, so I prefer that. You see that in a lot of majors now, Augusta now; and obviously the U.S. Open is formidable with the toughness of the greens and rough and stuff. So hopefully this week will be the same thing.

And that's what I think we should try to achieve this week, have the same sort of toughness as a major nearly. You get the likes of the Opens and the PGAs are pretty tough every week, and I think we should have this golf course in alignment with major championship toughness.

Q. When Ernie announced that the changes seemed likely, he alluded to the fact that he felt it was often too much of a leap from a typical European Tour course to what The European Tour guys then face in a major championship. Is that a point that you would agree with having actually done it and won one?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Absolutely, yes. Actually I found the rough last week was too thin, not thick enough.

I think for us to win, European Tour based players or European Tour players to win major tournaments in the future, we need to have tournaments months before, four weeks going up to a major tournament, like this week, we need to play tough golf courses where greens are fast, hard and fast. It's still not great weather right now, but to have the courses a lot more tougher; so when you get to the likes of Augusta or U.S. Opens or PGAs, we can adapt very quickly. Whereas I think sometimes they struggle with the two extremes. You get greens that are hard and fast and thick rough, and over here, it's not much like that at all. It would be a huge advantage for all the players on this tour to experience the rough if it's growing a bit longer, weeks leading up to a major.

I think that's why we haven't had a major winner in a long time, apart from myself. I think before me it was Jose Maria in '99.

Q. Paul Lawrie.

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Paul Lawrie. So it's a long time between drinks, and right now The European Tour is very thirsty for major winners. I believe we've got the talent here and I believe we've got the players to do that. But we need courses leading up to majors very similar to what they actually are when we do play a major tournament.

Q. Conditions last week, on the same subject, can they be damaging to a player, how he prepares for a major?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Oh, yes. You change your technique, your swing gets a little bit faster. You're playing different shots all the time, and it's very mentally exhausting.

I know for a fact that most of the guys had enough on Monday. We all wanted to go home, but obviously wanted to finish the tournament out, which we did, which was great for the tours and great spore the sponsors, Nissan and great for the golf course because it was pretty tough going. I think now the last couple of days, guys are on the range and putting green fixing their thoughts, correcting from the last four days in Ireland, because you do swing differently with the thought of wind around and a lot of tougher conditions.

For example, for myself, I worked for two hours on the range with my coach because certain things crept into my golf swing due to the tough conditions last week.

Q. On the subject, Michael, you're obviously aware of what happened to Darren on the 9th, were you impressed by the way in which he handled that or is that what we should expect?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, there's a lot of talk about that, too, between the players, and he's gone up in my estimation tenfold. Great respect for what he did, to basically penalize himself due to his lie, 24 hours later or something, was amazing.

That's the beautiful thing about this game. It's a real gentleman's game and he's upholding the integrity of the game of golf and himself by doing that to himself. And it's just one of those things that should be repeated more often I think. We've had case in the past where we've had a few bad examples set on the golf course, but for Darren to do that I think makes shows how big a person he really is character wise. Takes a lot of guts to do that, and he lost by one shot. He's definitely made us look good.

Q. If he had not done that, would people have thought worse of him, do you know what I mean?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: No, probably not, no. If you ask all the players, what would you do in the situation, I would say half would probably say go for the green like a normal shot. Other half would probably say, probably chip out. But no parties are actually wrong if you think about it. Because that's just the rub of the green; he got lucky. He probably felt it wasn't rightfully the best thing to do, so he chipped outside ways, which I thought was amazing. That shows that he's a wonderful character and with what he's been through in the last two or three years, it's just a great thing to do.

Q. The run up to the U.S. Open in about three weeks time, what are your sort of specific plans, go the week before.

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, I'm going to go like on the Saturday before. Playing next week, as well.

So I've had a nice run up towards the U.S. Open, four weeks in a row, week off, practice with my coach. Have the same sort of routine or plan as last year. Hadn't played the golf course yet; haven't played Winged Foot. I'm looking forward to playing there. And my form, once again, is getting there slowly. Finished 12th last week, finished fifth the week before, so it's definitely on the rise. I'm just working on other things on my golf game, but looking forward to the defence.

Q. Are you paired with Tiger the first two rounds?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: No idea.

Q. Is it Open Champion on both sides?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: That would be good. If not, that would be good.

RODDY WILLIAMS: Michael, thanks very much, and good luck this week.

End of FastScripts.

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297