Michael Campbell, who famously defeated prime Tiger Woods at the 2005 US Open, tells TG how his recovery is going, and why he put off the operation for as long as he did…
Michael Campbell is finally feeling like himself again. It has been an awful long time since the 2005 US Open champion could say that.
For three years, Campbell was experiencing debilitating symptoms of atrial fibrillation, which meant his heart was racing out of rhythm.
“I’d go to bed, have a nine-hour sleep and wake up tired because my heart was working so hard,” he tells TG from his home on the Costa Del Sol.
“I had no energy walking upstairs, so imagine playing golf like that, walking around for 18 holes for four hours and trying to focus. I was racing at 120bpm. I get to the ball, I’m huffing and puffing and had no patience. If you physically can’t do things, it creeps into your mental side of it too. I was just grumpy.
“But I knew the operation had complications and there is a chance that things can go south, so that’s why I held off for such a long time.”
Back in 2005, Campbell’s life changed forever at Pinehurst.
The New Zealander defied the odds as a sectional qualifier at the US Open, holding off Tiger Woods in a dramatic final round to become only his country’s second ever major champion.
Campbell was welcomed back home in Wellington with the biggest parade since The Beatles and has been a national icon ever since. His decision to undergo heart surgery coincided with the 20-year anniversary of that unforgettable triumph.
“My quality of life wasn’t great, Campbell says. “I just thought, ‘I can’t do this.’ So I took the risk.”
Campbell spent months researching his condition and speaking with heart surgeons before booking himself in for an operation last September in London.
“It’s called [cardiac] ablation,” he explains, “which basically means they freeze a few rogue nerves around your heart that fire too much. There was a risk to it. Like one in 800 people die from it. I thought it could have at least been in the thousands. You could suffer from a stroke as well.
“So you’ve got to take those things into consideration when you do have an operation like that. It was a big decision to make because things could have gone south, but I’m glad I did it now.”
Six months into Campbell’s recovery, the results have been transformational.
He smiles.
“The players around me [on the senior tour] are saying, ‘Wow, Michael, you’re just a different person now!’ Even people around me, my friends, my family, too. It’s life-changing.
“I’m so excited for this year. Ive been practising hard and am going to the gym now. I couldn’t go to the gym before because I was so tired after 10 minutes on the treadmill or biking or just doing weights because I couldn’t do anything. I’m much stronger now.
“I haven’t drunk alcohol now for six months. That’s been a big difference as well, so it changed my lifestyle. These things happen for a reason and it was a big wake-up call for me.
“But the most important thing is I’m healthy again. I feel a million times better.”
Campbell will be returning to Legends Tour action in Marbella next week and says his rivals view him as a genuine threat again. “Now my goal is to win again,” he says.
It would be remiss to spend time with Campbell without reflecting on the day he took down Woods on the biggest stage all those years ago.
“I think I’m more famous for that than actually winning the US Open,” Campbell laughs.
“That was Tiger in his prime. He was winning everything. He just won Augusta two months before. Then went on to win The Open two months after. He was in hot form and I stopped him. That was the biggest moment in my whole career to beat Tiger under the gun. Especially the last nine holes of a major, in the toughest conditions at Pinehurst.”
There is one magical story from Pinehurst which Campbell will never tire of telling.
“The biggest thing that I got from that was Tiger was there with me for the presentation of my trophy,” he says. “He’s never second or third. He’s always the number one. But he was there with me. Sharing my biggest moment in my whole career. To have the GOAT next to me…
“I found out later on through his caddie Steve Williams that Steve relayed how I started to play golf – on a sheep farm, fences around the greens, teeing the ball up with sheep shit, playing with one club. I think Tiger relates to that story.
“I said to him, ‘Why are you here next to me, Tiger?’ He said: ‘To show you my respect.’ That was a pretty awesome thing to hear.”