Golf: Campbell chasing biggest payday

Michael Campbell dispatched Retief Goosen and played Ireland's Paul McGinley in the Wentworth final. Picture / Reuters

VIRGINIA WATER, England - New Zealand's Michael Campbell said he fed off surprisingly negative body language from Retief Goosen to power his way to a 7 and 6 win over the top seed in their world match play golf semifinal on Sunday.

"I could tell by his (Goosen's) body language that he wasn't functioning correctly," the US Open champion said after booking a place in Sunday's (early this morning, NZT) 36-hole final against Irishman Paul McGinley.

"He wasn't in the right frame of mind, just from his body language, and that gave me more encouragement to see that.

"When you see your opponent slouching a little bit when you're walking down the fairway ... you can feed off their energy. I could feel that from Goose on the last nine holes of the morning session."

Campbell said his run of an eagle and three birdies in four holes from the fourth had rattled his opponent.

"I was very surprised. I was expecting a lot of good, quality shots from Goose. He won previously the last couple of weeks and he was in good form," added the 36-year-old Campbell.

"It was unexpected play from Goose because he's such a great player. I think with me starting so strongly rattled him a little bit and he hit a few bad tee shots on 11 and 12.

"But that's the game of golf for you."

World No 5 Goosen, US Open champion in 2001 and 2004, arrived at Wentworth having won successive tournaments in Germany and China.

However, his semifinal elimination here means he could surrender top spot to Campbell in the European order of merit.

If European No 2 Campbell picks up the first prize of £1 million ($2.59 million), the richest in golf, he will overhaul Goosen and open up a lead of around £90,000.

Based in Brighton on the south coast of England, Campbell has already played 103 competitive holes this week and said he had an unusual way of re-energising his aching body.

"I do some yoga poses just to get the blood going because obviously sometimes you stand on your feet for so long walking around," said world No 16.

"I also do head stands and I really enjoy it. Two minutes, three minutes, you've got to try it ... it's unbelievable.

"It's very hard to get the circulation going through your body because the heart is up here and the feet are down there. So you do an inversion to get the old blood coming down towards the heart to move up.

"It also sends more blood to the brain as well. It makes sense, doesn't it?"

Campbell turned the form book upside down today and will meet Paul McGinley in the final.

The Irishman polished off Argentina's Angel Cabrera 4 and 3 in the other semifinal.

"To beat Retief in such a manner, I knew I needed to bring my 'A game' today, and I did," Campbell said.

"I remember watching this (event) when I was a youngster and I wanted to be a part of the World Match Play. And finally, I am a finalist. It's always been one of my dreams to fulfil."

Campbell, a collective two-under-par for his opening two matches here compared with Goosen's 17 under, shrugged aside his underdog's tag with a spectacular run of three birdies and an eagle at the start of their 36-hole encounter.

Playing under clear blue skies, he struck a glorious four-iron second shot to within eight feet of the cup at the fourth and sank his eagle putt.

Buoyed by his eagle, Campbell raced four up through seven holes by rolling in birdie putts of six, 20 and seven feet.

Both players bogeyed the eighth before Campbell stretched his lead with another birdie at the 11th.

He also birdied the par-five 12th, although his four there was matched by Goosen.

The South African chipped in for a birdie at the 14th before Campbell drained a 25-footer for a birdie at the next.

Goosen, 36, was starting to find his range and a birdie at the par-five 17th reduced his arrears to four holes.

Campbell, though, registered his seventh birdie at the 18th to go five up at lunch with a sparkling eight-under-par 64 against Goosen's 71.

The South African's chances of scooping the one million pound winner's cheque were effectively ended when he made a costly mistake at the start of the afternoon round.

The twice US Open champion took four strokes to reach the green at the third and a double bogey six meant he went six down.

Campbell then drove the final nail in Goosen's coffin with another brilliant run of four birdies in seven holes.

"I played terrible," said Goosen.

"I think I was over-par this morning and much the same this afternoon so I deserved to lose.

- REUTERS