Michael Campbell

Michael Shane Campbell CNZM (born 23 February 1969) is a New Zealand professional golfer who is best known for having won the 2005 U.S. Open and, at the time, the richest prize in golf, the £1,000,000 HSBC World Match Play Championship, in the same year. He played on the European Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Campbell was born in Hāwera, Taranaki. Ethnically, he is predominantly Māori, from the Ngāti Ruanui (father's side) and Ngā Rauru (mother's side) iwi. He also has some Scottish ancestry, being a great-great-great-grandson of John Logan Campbell, a Scottish emigrant to New Zealand. As a young child, he lived near his mother's Wai-o-Turi marae at Whenuakura, just south of Pātea, and also spent much of his time with whānau at his father's Taiporohenui marae, near Hāwera.

Like many young New Zealand boys, Campbell dreamed of playing for the All Blacks, and began playing rugby union, but his mother vetoed his participation. While he was talented at several other sports, such as softball, squash and table tennis, his passion turned out to be golf.

Aged seven, he began playing golf on the Pātea golf course, which had the greens fenced to keep sheep off them. He was introduced to the game by an uncle, Roger Rei, but was also undoubtedly influenced by his father, Tom Campbell, who was a single-figure handicapper. The family moved south to Tītahi Bay, where Campbell joined the Titahi Bay golf club aged 10. He developed his skills in junior ranks at nearby Paraparaumu and attended school at Mana College but left without any qualifications.

From 1988, Campbell represented New Zealand in various international amateur competitions, including the team victory at the 1992 Eisenhower Trophy.

In 1993, he turned professional. In 1995, in his first full season on the European Tour, he held a two-shot lead after the third round of The Open Championship, but faded after a final-round 76. He nonetheless remained in contention until the final hole, missing a playoff with Costantino Rocca and John Daly (eventually won by Daly) by one stroke. At the end of 1995 Campbell had moved to 28th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Within three years after his third-place-finish in The Open Championship, Campbell fell into a slump and went down to 465th in World Ranking.

Campbell eventually established himself as a solid tour performer, finishing fourth on the European Tour Order of Merit (money list) in 2000, and again finishing in the top ten of the Order of Merit in 2002. He won the PGA Tour of Australasia's Order of Merit during the 1999/2000 season.