Golf: Playing a round with Michael Campbell

Addressing the ball, it was obvious George Brooks was nervous. Like scores before him, this was a moment he'd been thinking about for some time.

But as he watched his ball sail out into the 17th fairway, he turned, crossed himself, looked skyward and said quietly: "Thank you, Lord".

Earlier on the 12th tee, Russell Tills shanked his tee shot on the 149m par three, clipping the top of a cabbage tree and ending up anywhere but near the hole. His personal pride might have been dented as his playing partners shuffled uncomfortably. But there was a fair bit of pride swelling inside from moments before when his 13-year-old son Matthew had fired a drive perfectly down the middle.

For Brooks and Tills, dreams come true for $975, because on Thursday the pair, and 38 others, paid $975 to play a round of golf they will never forget. They were in the company of someone who just happened to be US Open and World Matchplay champion, and someone who is on something of a personal crusade to make Kiwis feel good about themselves.

Michael Campbell didn't disappoint. It might have been yet another corporate golf day with yet another bunch of paying customers who happened to ask him the same questions he's been asked countless times since that famous June day at Pinehurst but he did it in the way Kiwis love about the 36-year-old.

He's personable, charming, patient, and he's also one of them. He's still a Maori kid from Titahi Bay.

During a quiet moment as he waited for the next group to catch up, Campbell looked tired. The past seven months have clearly taken their toll but, as Jack Nicklaus told him soon after tapping in for a two-shot win over Tiger Woods, life would never be the same again.

He quickly sparked up when the foursome approached and put his game face on. Remarkably, he remembered everyone's name, using a technique he learned 10 years ago from Greg Norman before unleashing another pinpoint drive that leaves his playing partners in awe.

It's patently obvious that a competitive instinct burns inside. It might be just a corporate day when he can chuckle to himself about some of the terrible swings on show but he addressed each shot as if a title was riding on it. "What a shocker," he announced as his approach settled 10m from the pin. This is still work and there are small elements of his game he's told himself to work on.

In one stretch, he birdied six holes in a row, then lipped out chasing a seventh. The anguish is etched on his face but only delight can be seen on those of his playing partners.

They came in all shapes and sizes, all ages and backgrounds. At that price, it didn't come cheap but, as Campbell said, "it's a once in a lifetime opportunity for these people".

There is little coaching going on ("It would take me months to try to sort some of these guys out," he joked as one wields a golf club like he's chopping down a tree while sitting on the toilet) but it's not about that. Most are here to say they played a round with Campbell.

Among them is Michael Barltrop. For golfing trainspotters out there, it's the same Michael Barltrop who, as an amateur, led the 1986 New Zealand Open after the first day's play before succumbing to both Rodger Davis and his nerves to slip down the field. "I still have nightmares about that," Barltrop joked.

He's still a scratch golfer and went around the intimidating, yet picturesque, Kauri Cliffs in a more than respectable 72. But it wasn't about proving he could play well on a course rated one of the best in New Zealand.

"You know, I can't afford the money to come here today," Barltrop admitted. "But you don't get the chance to do this every day. I just had to come. Golf is my passion and I wanted to see Michael. He was just coming through when I was playing. When you watch him live you understand just how good he is."

Good is an understatement. Although he was playing off the white tees rather than the more challenging championship ones, he missed only two fairways (even then he still either parred or birdied the hole) and didn't card a bogey all day.

"What do you think about when you address the ball?" one asked, perhaps thinking he might hear some Buddhist philosophy about searching for enlightenment. "Nothing," Campbell replied. "Swinging the club. You need to remember that this is what I do. I've been playing for more than 25 years now and it's like riding a bike."

Campbell has fallen off that bike a few times throughout his career, most notably when he contemplated giving the game away at the end of 2004, but now plays with an inner belief that comes from last year. "I don't fear anyone anymore," he said - not Tiger Woods, not Ernie Els, not an expectant public and media and certainly not his own inner demons.

"I bet there are a fair few balls hiding in that thick bush on the left-hand side," another commented.

"What bush?" Campbell asked. "I don't see anything." It's clearly what sets the pros out from the Sunday hackers, the contenders from the confused.

"With every step I took on those last nine holes [at the US Open] I felt bulletproof," he explained during a question-and-answer session later that day. Although he pulled out a number of the stories he's told before - the one about ducking off to the portaloos to do his eye exercises; the one about his amazing bunker shot on the 15th; the one about standing on the 10th tee asking himself if he was good enough to win; the one about the argument with his caddie about whether to use a five or six iron on the 12th - for everyone there it was like hearing Martin Luther King Jnr deliver his "I have a dream" speech. They were captivated.

Matthew Tills certainly was. He was already on top of the world after sending his drive down the middle of the 11th fairway in the company of Campbell. The 13-year-old, who plays off a 15 handicap, had been given the round by his father as a Christmas present and was resplendent in his Cambo polo shirt.

With long grass around the green and boggy marshland in front of the putting surface, his second shot was fraught with danger. With everyone in the party debating what he should do, Tills was left confused.

"What is your gut feeling?" Campbell queried. "I want to go for it," the youngster replied confidently. "Then go for it."

He did, and topped the ball into the marshes with no hope of finding it. Campbell turned to him ruefully and said, "I admire your courage," before handing the youngster a ball from his own collection that Tills will no doubt cherish as a reminder of his day with the world's 15th-ranked golfer. "Just follow your instincts," he offered as advice before heading back to meet the next group.

"It's something special for them," Campbell offered shortly afterwards. "It's important for the kids to have role models. I'm in those shoes now."

It's not a statement delivered in an arrogant fashion, it's more an acceptance of the role Campbell has taken. He didn't need to do it but he's public property now and it's a responsibility he takes seriously.

As the rain began to fall for the final group waiting patiently for their two holes with the US Open champion, he huddled under the golf cart and headed back to the 17th tee. He greeted the final foursome with the same enthusiasm as he did for the first before playing two more holes of impeccable golf.

He's Michael Campbell the US Open champion and Michael Campbell the golfing ambassador.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY