KEY POINTS:
If desire were the only quality necessary to win this tournament, Michael Campbell would already have his second New Zealand Open in the bag.
The world number 22 has won far bigger tournaments. He's even won a major. But he was striding Gulf Harbour yesterday with a definite
sense of purpose that alluded to just how much he would love to win his home tournament.
His booming 333m drive on the first hole was powered by a stiff breeze and an adrenaline surge that kicked in when he saw the size of the gallery.
Of course he's played in front of bigger, more vocal support but the difference yesterday was that every one of the 3000 or so people packed round the ropes was there for him.
There were gasps and hollers as his ball made a determined charge towards the green and with one shot, Campbell had everyone believing something special was brewing.
He couldn't sink the 12 footer he left himself for birdie and his temperamental putter didn't settle until the sixth, when he drilled a 15 footer into the middle of the cup to save par.
The home boy wasn't surging but it didn't matter - the wind was really blowing and while Campbell was just about keeping his head, most of those around him were losing theirs.
Playing to the card was solid golf and Campbell looked like he was only a dose of luck away from putting some red numbers on the card.
There was a pleasing tempo to his play. The modern golfer brings to the course so much mental clutter that it takes an age for most to complete their pre-shot routine.
Not Campbell. He got through the whole business yesterday with the minimum of fuss.
On the seventh, he put his approach stone dead only seconds after his shorter-hitting playing partner, Scott Strange, had put his club back in the bag.
The putt for birdie went plop, Campbell jumped to the top of the leader board and everyone got ready for the charge.
It was a false dawn, though. A wayward strike off the tee left Campbell with a tricky finish for par on the eighth that he couldn't complete.
Another ugly pulled approach on the 10th ended in a bogey and a clumsy chip on the 12th left him with too much work to do to salvage par.
Many in the gallery drifted away. More left on the 15th when his 20 foot putt for birdie slipped past without ever really getting a decent look at the hole.
The scorecard was telling only part of the story. The pomp and swagger of the first tee had suddenly deserted Campbell.
On the front nine he had consistently banged his drive way past Strange's ball and strode past him with the air of a man who was lord of the Gulf Harbour manor.
When he found himself in trouble off the tee at the 16th, Campbell was once again the humble boy from Titahi Bay. The shoulders were slumped, the head slightly bowed and the emotional energy had gone missing.
There was no conviction in the birdie putt on 17 and with his confidence appearing to waver, he smashed an ugly drive down the wrong fairway on the last.
He scrambled the par after a glorious three-iron and delicate lob. It all felt a little anti-climactic but in truth it had been a fine round.
"Shooting two over is quite satisfying to be honest," he declared once he had got out of that blasted wind. "I'm in contention. The sponsors should be pretty happy that there is a local guy up there and I think tomorrow is going to be a lot of fun.
"The putter was completely cold. The whole day, I was shaving the hole. But the important thing is to just be patient. I'm almost there. I'm pretty close to playing well like I did in the second round.
"I have just got to hang in there, do my process and hope that tomorrow I'm standing on the green with the trophy.
Draining his final putt at Pinehurst last year was a special moment. So, too, his magical bunker escape on the 17th at St Andrews a decade earlier.
By 6pm today, he could have another memory to cherish for life.
