Golf: Former major winners offer Campbell advice

Michael Campbell

Fellow major championship winners, Jose Maria Olazabal and Paul Lawrie, have advised new US Open golf champion Michael Campbell to be selective when it comes to working out his future playing schedule.

Olazabal captured US Masters titles in 1994 and 1999, and the Spaniard was delighted to see the Wellington-raised Campbell succeed.

"Hopefully this win will make him become an even better player and maybe he can win another major," Olazabal said.

"Now that he's done it once, there's no reason Michael can't go on and become a multiple major winner."

But Olazabal, who has won 29 times on the US PGA and European Tour, warned Campbell, 36, not to become overburdened in seeking to reap the rewards of last week's stunning US Open success when he won by two strokes from a late charging world No. 1 Tiger Woods.

"It all depends on what Michael now wants to do tournament wise because he is going to get invite after invite, along with more demands from sponsors, and even more demands from every branch of the media," said Olazabal whose play on the US Tour is restricted to invites.

"The bottom line is that he must ensure that it is he who makes the decision, and should he wish to continue to play a normal type of schedule and also try and enjoy his success, then he will be fine.

"But if he goes chasing invite after invite and tries to make the best of it, then he is going to be one busy man."

Campbell's victory reminded Olazabal of his US Masters win 11 years ago when he held off American Tom Lehman to succeed at Augusta National by two strokes.

"It was just awesome how well Michael played down the stretch on Sunday, and while he played well all day long, he really impressed me how he also kept his composure after taking the lead," Olazabal said.

"Even though Tiger put the pressure right back on him with a birdie at 15, Michael held his ground very well."

Lawrie clinched the 1999 British Open Championship at Carnoustie in Scotland in a similar mode as Campbell by succeeding a week earlier at a final qualifying event and then claim the major.

However in the Scot's case, his victory was helped when Frenchman Jean Van Velde imploded by dropping three shots with just one hole to play.

Lawrie has proceeded to enhance an already lucrative career winning two further tournaments including the rich Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.

However Lawrie has produced nothing like the effort in the majors since with a best result being 15th in the 2003 US Masters.

Lawrie revealed he was swamped with offers in the weeks following his Carnoustie success and the lessons he learned should prove beneficial to Campbell.

"Michael is already an experienced player, and whilst I'm sure he will handle the mantle of being a US Open champion very well, he needs to give careful consideration to all the offers that will now come flooding in," Lawrie said.

"It's important that he sits down with his management team and considers each one carefully with the view as to which offer will be best for his career.

"It can be easy to want to accept most of the offers, which is only natural, but then he doesn't want to tire himself out because that can easily happen.

"He's had his up and downs like many of us but it was just great to see him win. There is already a feel good feeling on the European Tour in just a week after his win because Cambo is such a nice guy."

Campbell returns to competition at Thursday's 3.5 million euro ($6 million) Smurfit European Open in County Kildare south of Dublin.

However Campbell has withdrawn from next week's Scottish Open to spend time with his parents who arrive in Britain next Monday, just days before Campbell tees up in the British Open on July 14.

- NZPA