Michael Campbell

Yeah, Steve Williams in New Zealand for a number of years.

Until Michael Campbell won the US Open.

is that right yeah he was whatever happened to

he was a great golfer yeah he won that u.s open and just he played after that but just played in his ice cutting for craig parry and uh we'll play we were at uh new south wales back par five there that goes down yeah yeah i played there it's

a number i play off 30.

At 16, you won the World Secondary School Golf Champs and represented New Zealand.

Michael Campbell said you were one of the best golfers to come out of New Zealand in a very long time.

A few years later, aged 20, you had a horrific accident.

You fell off the back of a golf cart while chasing alligators in the US, suffered a life-threatening head injury and were in a coma for a week.

The game of golf is more mental than physical, but only once you get to a level, a high level.

And so I didn't know if I'd get back to that.

But my coach, Mao Tung, said, amazing coach and mentor and he was Michael Campbell's coach was he came up and saw me and he was sort of another one of those amazing mentors along the way which I just put down to I'm just a product of a whole lot of really cool people that have put their time into this shell then that's bought out something in different scenarios and so he was just like why don't we just hit one on the front yard I was sitting there and And I was like, yeah, sure.

So we're in Papamoa, sort of on the front yard, and there's dunes that go over to the beach.

There's all kinds of things you could strip it right back to.

I thought for New Zealand ones, Michael Campbell's putter.

Because enough time, I think time also makes the appreciation grow deeper.

Because I think Ryan Fox, like it's quite recent.

that he hit his winning putt.

But I think Michael Campbell's one would be pretty cool.

And funny I should say that, actually.

That story was told very well by Entain's very own Randall Munro.

But that said, he is still an unknown to most people in the golfing world as he travels to Troon for the 133rd Open, has a horrendous journey, his flight is cancelled, he is the last player to check in for the Open and he's got minimal experience, just like Ben Curtis when it comes to these sorts of conditions.

But he shoots a decent 71 in the first round, then a 67 in the second to be four under in a tie for fifth place at that stage with Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Colin Montgomery and Michael Campbell.

He then shoots another 67 in the third round and he leads.

Come the 72nd hole, now Hamilton has a one-shot lead over Els.

Look, we're all behind you without question and obviously been a massive goal of yours.

Have you taken a dive into the American courses? Do they suit your style of game? Because I look at Michael Campbell, grinded away year on year in the European Tour, was very successful and obviously...

culminated in that US Open win, got his PGA Tour card and actually really struggled to adapt to the American style of golf and how those golfers were set up.

I think he may have said once that the European courses just suited his game a lot more than America.

Yeah, well, you know what's crazy with that, I mean, obviously it's a, a, a different sport and a different story.

When Michael...

There's a golfer named Michael Campbell that actually won the US Open at Pinehurst.

He had to do that so he could concentrate on the golf ball.

He ended up winning a, a major.

Like, yeah, it's a big deal for New Zealand.

Uh, like I, I specifically remember when Michael Campbell won the US Open in '05.

I was 18 and just starting my golf journey, and I remember how big a deal that was for New Zealand.

Like the whole country stopped that morning.

Yeah.

The image for that is me, you, and Michael Campbell from

that.

Nice.