Golf: Great minds now think alike 

David Smail and Michael Campbell at at press conference yesterday. Picture / Paul Estcourt

For some time, David Smail and Michael Campbell have been a study in contrast but they now appear to be using similar strategies in their buildup to the New Zealand Open.

And it is Campbell, a multiple winner around the world, who has made the adjustments to emulate the single-minded methods Smail has used as he has worked his way to 91st in the world rankings.

Since they both turned pro in the early 90s, Smail has exuded a careful, studied resolve as, apart from one brief look at the States, he has based himself very successfully on the Japan tour.

That allows Smail to move with the least fuss between family life in Hamilton and his golfing schedule in Japan.

"I made up my mind that I wanted to stay in Japan for the rest of my days," Smail said yesterday after practising at the Gulf Harbour venue for the Holden-sponsored Open.

Smail is self-coached, with his entourage swelled only when wife and former professional Sheree can join him, as she has this week at Gulf Harbour. For Smail, minimal staff equals minimal distractions.

Campbell, 35, a more exuberant character, seemed to add employees every season and numbers in the Cambo-circle, as he termed it yesterday, had ballooned well into double figures.

But when he resumed golf this year after a six-week campervan holiday with his family around New Zealand, only a coach and a mental skills coach were on the Campbell payroll.

The rest were gone after a major rethink by the 2000 New Zealand Open winner.

His last season had been an exercise in frustration, his self-discipline had been so ordinary he would let one bad shot ruin the rest of his round.

That had never occurred before and, for the first time in his professional career, he had forgotten to jot down a list of season goals.

"For some reason there were no goals set down for 2004, there was no motivation there, I dunno why," Campbell admitted yesterday.

He had redressed that omission, taken the hatchet to his staff and promised to keep golf as his focus.

"I had forgotten how to play golf," Campbell conceded. "On the golf course I was very confused."

That accusation has rarely been directed at Smail, who was named this week as New Zealand Golfer of the Year. His world ranking has dipped under 100 for the first time after his 18th-equal finish at the Heineken Classic in Melbourne.

"To feel you are in the top 100 in the world is a pretty good feeling," Smail said.

He also had some good vibes about his form; only a poor 75 in the third round at Melbourne took the edge off his first tournament for the year.

"I probably feel more expectations, but on the other hand ... I think I have played probably well enough to feel that I deserve to be there and the confidence is there to hopefully play well."

That assurance has come from an eight-year stint in Japan and the decision he wanted to see out his career there.

But Smail, 34, did add a stipulation. He would not discount a shift to the US PGA Tour if he had a run of victories next season and his ranking dipped significantly.

Smail said Gulf Harbour was in excellent condition, the green staff had done a great deal of work to ease some problem areas and he hoped the greens would not get any quicker.

Campbell, who previously made adverse comments about the course, was optimistic about the first tournament in the five-year deal New Zealand has to stage a co-sanctioned European tour event.

He said he did not enjoy Gulf Harbour when he played it five years ago - he did not like the blind shots players were forced to make - but he had been assured changes had been made. 

NZ OPEN
Gulf Harbour Country Club

First round draw, from tomorrow.-

First tee: 7.20: P. Archer (Eng), G. Houston (Wal), J. Bickerton (Eng). 7.30: G. Paddison (NZ), P. Lawrie (Irl), R. Barnes (US). 7.40: D. Beck (Aus), E. Canonica (Ita), W. Perske (Aus). 7.50: K. Ferrie (Eng), N. Green (Aus), D. McKenzie (Aus). 8.00: A. Hansen (Den), K. Felton (Aus), S. Bowditch (Aus). 8.10: A. Forsyth (Sco), B. Cheesman (US), C. Rodiles (Esp). 8.20: R. Karlsson (Swe), S. Scahill (NZ), P. Lima (Por).

8.30: S. Osborne (Eng), S. Thompson (NZ), J. Donaldson (Wal). 8.40: T. Wilkinson (NZ), A. McKenzie (Aus), D. Bransdon (Aus). 8.50: F. Delamontagne (Fra), C. Campbell (Aus), B. McIntosh (AUS). 9.00 M. King (Eng), C. Carmichael (Aus), J-F. Lucquin (Fra). 9.10: L. Hickmott (Aus), N. Basic (Aus), J. Dawes (Aus). 9.20: W. Ormsby (Aus), L. Slattery (Eng), J. Nilsson (Swe).

10th tee: 7.20: G. Murphy (Irl), P. Edberg (Swe), S. Draper (Aus). 7.30: J. Day (Am) (Aus), C. Hanell (Swe), P. Fowler (Aus). 7.40: P. Sheehan (Aus), M. Pearce (NZ), N. Fasth (Swe). 7.50: C. Parry (Aus), R. Green (Aus), S.Dyson (Eng). 8.00: N. Dougherty (Eng), N. O'Hern (Aus), T. Price (Aus), 8.10: C. Villegas (Col), P. Fulke (Swe), B. Lane (Eng). 8.20: J. Le Roux (Eng), A. Percey (Aus), G. Simpson (Aus).

8.30: F. Henge (Swe), R. Schmidt (Aus), A. Tschudin (Aus). 8.40: P. Hedblom (Swe), S. Tait (Aus), J. Moseley (Aus). 8.50: K. Barnes (Aus), S. Collins (Aus), M. Ilonen (Ned). 9.00 J. Wade (Aus), F. Molinari (Ita), A. Groom (Aus). 9.10: S. Alker (NZ), N. Redfern (Eng), D. McGrane (Irl). 9.20: M. Wheelhouse (NZ), R. Kauiki (Am) (NZ), R. Muntz (Ned).

First tee: 12.20: M. Eliasson (Swe), C. Jones (Aus), B. Heaven (NZ). 12.30: S. Webster (Eng), T. Pilkadaris (Aus), J. Nitties (Aus). 12.40: G. Chalmers (Aus), G. Havret (Fra), S. Khan (Eng). 12.50: M. Campbell (NZ), P. Lawrie (Sco), P. O'Malley (Aus). 1.00: H. Stenson (Swe), D. Smail (NZ), P. Senior (Aus). 1.10: J. Haeggman (Swe), J. Lyle (Aus), B. Rumford (Aus).

1.20: B. Lamb (Aus), S. Malcolmson (NZ), R. Lee (NZ). 1.30: R. Coles (Eng), D. Diaz (Aus), T. Christie (NZ). 1.40: M. Brier (Aut), J. Backstrom (Swe), D. Alaban (Aus). 1.50: S. Wakefield (Eng), S. Gordon (NZ), A. Painter (Aus). 2.00: K. Chun (Am) (NZ), M. Cain (Aus), L. Westerberg (Swe). 2.10: A. Presnell (Aus), E. Lee (NZ), J. Manuel Lara (Esp). 2.20: C. Downes (Aus), A. Buckle (Aus), B. Kennedy (Aus).

10th tee: 12.20: M. Maritz (SA), S. Nash (Aus), B. Burge (Aus). 12.30: B. Meyers (Aus), O. Wilson (Eng), A. Park (Am) (NZ). 12.40: J. Sandelin (Swe), R. Swift (Aus), N. Sato (Jpn). 12.50: M. Tunnicliff (Eng), L. Parsons (Aus), M. Foster (Eng). 1.00: R. Bland (Eng), M. Fraser (Aus), M. Goggin (Aus). 1.10: G. Storm (Eng), C. Rocca (Ita), S. Drummond (Sco). 1.20: C. Cevaer (Fra), N. Spence (Aus), G. Emerson (Eng). 1.30: S. Conran (Aus), S. Jeffress (Aus), J. Geary (Am) (NZ).

1.40: G. Fernandez-Castano (Esp), M. Doyle (Aus), S. Manley (Wal). 1.50: F. Andersson Hed (Swe), P. Gustafsson (Swe), A. Crawford (Aus). 2.00: M. Ecob (Aus), M. Olander (Swe), P. Hanson (Swe). 2.10: A. Marshall (Eng), G. Flint (Aus), M. Vibe-Hastrup (Den). 2.20: R. Best (NZ), S. O'Hara (Sco), S. Gardiner (Aus).