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UBS HONG KONG OPENNovember 16, 2012Michael CampbellFANLING, HONG KONG PAUL SYMES: Michael, great round, congratulations. That was a perfect end to a very good day for you, that putt on the last. MICHAEL CAMPBELL: It was. Obviously today was a day where I played great from tee‑to‑green and holed a few nice putts for pars and birdies. But I'm just happy to be in a position to have a chance for the weekend. That's why we play the game. That's why I didn't give up. That's why I just stuck at it, just stuck working hard on my game, and I knew that this would happen. I deserve it, really. PAUL SYMES: Absolutely. You talked a lot about the confidence coming back into your game, as well, and Portugal must have helped to get that competitive feeling back, and being near the top of the leaderboard, as well. MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, it's been a gradual buildup the last three or four months, a few Top 15s. Portugal was a great boost to my confidence, and it shows this week. The last couple days, it's been pretty solid from tee‑to‑green. The whole short game has been pretty good, too. So you can't buy confidence, you just have to earn it, and I think I've earned it over last seven years since I haven't won a golf tournament. I have been patient. Yeah, there have been times where I wanted to throw it in, but what's really inspired me over the last, particularly over the last four or five years, is seeing my friends around the same age bracket as me, 40‑plus club: The likes of Ernie winning his fourth major, Thomas Björn winning three times last year. So not just me: Paul Lawrie, a wonderful last couple of years; Harrington, he's 40 now; Jim Furyk winning the FedExCup. And the list goes on. So being 40 isn't that bad playing golf. (Laughter). But seeing my friends win tournaments left, right and centre definitely inspired me to don't give up and keep on playing. Q. How close did you get to thinking about giving up in those years? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: How close? Oh, geez, on several occasions really. At one particular time, I remember I was back in Sydney back home with my family and I said to myself, okay, tonight is where I decide whether I'm going to give up the game or keep on playing, keep on practising. I went to bed that night and I woke up in the morning and there was something inside me said to me, look, you know, keep on going, you've still got the talent. It doesn't go away. The talent, it's always with you. It never goes away. It just hides now and then. I decided to, you know, just keep on working hard and that was it really. Q. Could you put a year on, that roughly? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: 2008. PAUL SYMES: That rough enough for you? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: February. (Laughter). Q. Julie and the boys at home? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, just my family. It was a year where I was traveling back and forth from Sydney to London, Europe, for two years. It was tough going. I couldn't do that because my family, we decided to be based back into Sydney from London; and I travelled back and forth from Sydney to The European Tour seven times a year and it wasn't good. Not good for my body, not good for my mind. Jet‑lag was always there. So I gave it a go for two years and I said, I can't do this, let's go back to Europe, so we did. And my family made a huge sacrifice to shift back from London to Sydney, Sydney then Switzerland, then Switzerland to Spain. So in the space of the last two years maybe, we've moved four times; not just across the road. I'm talking continents. I'm talking other side of the world. So it's been a tough‑‑ off the golf course, it's been a tough last couple of years personally. But now that we have settled in Spain, I'm happy with that, and so is my wife is kids. It makes me going away now playing golf a lot easier, where as before it was a big struggle. Q. Whereabouts in Spain for you? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Marbella, Los Flamingos. Q. And Jonathan, who coached you when you won the U.S. Open ‑‑ and I wanted to ask you about the strength that he's given you, your caddie? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Well, that's been a turning point for me really this year is the combination of finding a place to stay, to live, but also back with my old coach, Jonathan (Yarwood). We have been together since May this year or June this year I think it is. We had a little breakup for two years, but coming back to him now, it's very, very fresh for both of us, and the results are showing. Since June this year, I've played some great golf. So the proof is in the pudding and we have had a lot of success together. Beforehand, we won ten times as a team, including a Major Championship, so he knows his stuff. Q. Can you just talk about John, your caddie? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: We have been together now for the last two years, and during those two years, he's been very patient with me and he's seen some horrible stuff on the golf course. But he just stuck in there with me and he believed in me, and now we are a great team. The communication on the golf course is fantastic. All these things combine together breeds confidence or breeds success. Q. What sort of adjustments have you made mentally or physically or game plan? What sort of adjustment have you made? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Well, what happened was, what was the catalyst for me was basically, I was injured back in 2009, I think it was. Both my shoulders, left and right shoulder, because I was traveling a lot back and forth, Australia to London; combine that with dehydrated and you spend 24 hours on the plane, and then one time just at a baggage care sell, I tore a labrum muscle and tore the other one, as well. I was out for like six months. They said to me‑‑ it was a sign saying to me that I need to hire a full‑time fitness instructor, which I have since 2009, and that helped me a lot with my fitness to keep myself flexible and strong for when I reach an age where you need to be; where you need to work twice as hard with these kids under 30. Can't get away with things now like I used to, so you need to work even harder.  My trainer, Markus, has been fantastic. Q. With Rory now almost certainly gone, what impact do you think that will have on the next couple of days or so? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Gone where? Q. Missing the cut? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Did he? Okay. Well, makes it a lot easier (laughter). Q. Does that give hope for the rest of the field? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, obviously it does. He is definitely the world's best player for a reason. He's a wonderful talent, and I've admired him ever since he turned pro. I remember playing with him when he was 19 years old, four years ago, when he first turned pro and he was very impressive then. What he's done for the game and for himself is fantastic. But this week‑‑ I didn't know that. Yes, it makes winning the UBS Hong Kong Open a lot easier, definitely. Q. Quite a number of name players stumbled today; Yang shot 77, likely to miss the cut. Obviously you didn't have troubled, and you probably didn't think the course played very difficult but, can you see how some players might have sort of blown out? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, you can get very aggressive on these holes. You don't need to. You can be patient out there. I think when you lose your patience out there, you can make mistakes. And you have to hit the ball a certain side of the hole because of the grain and the slope of the greens. You've got to hit it in the right places, and if you don't, you're in big trouble. One prime example would be the hole on 7; downhill putt, you can't stop it. So your course management has got to be excellent, and mine was, or has been for the last couple of days. That's definitely I think the most obvious one for me. It's obviously not a power ‑‑ long golf course. Q. Was the wind swirling? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: That's part of the reason too. A lot of gusts. You have to be patient out there. A lot of times faith and light has to be on your side to hit it close, and today had a few holes where the wind blew the right pace or the right whatever you call it. But yeah, it's just been one of those, the last couple of days, you have to be really, really patient out there. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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