Bigger fish await Masterton’s Ben Campbell after he landed the biggest prize of his professional golf career, winning last weekend’s Hong Kong Open in a thrilling finish from good friend, Australian Cameron Smith and Phachara Khongwatmai of Thailand.
Campbell sunk a 4–5m putt on the last hole to edge Smith, the 2022 Open Championship winner, by one shot, with Khongwatmai tied for third, a further shot behind, after an at-times frustrating final 18 holes, including a bizarre lengthy delay on the third to last hole.
Despite the tension, Campbell reckoned it was good to catch up with Smith, who he has known since their amateur playing days, and chat about other interests outside golf.
“I hadn’t seen Cam for three or four years, so it was a nice day out there, catching up, talking about fishing a lot and things like that, and you sort of sometimes forgot that you were playing the last round,” Campbell.
The pair’s demeanour was not helped, though, by the antics of the then outright leader Khongwatmai, who, on the 16th hole, hit his tee shot into thick flora.
“It took a long time, and we must have been in there 20 minutes trying to figure out what they were doing. They were moving trees and dead branches, and there were a couple of rules officials there, but that definitely stopped his momentum, and it felt like I had to warm up again to play the last couple of holes.”
Campbell put the frustration behind him and stormed home to bag his first Asian Tour victory in style and pocket the $360000 first prize.
“It was good to finish like that. I hit a really good iron shot into 17. I took a lot of club off 18 because I knew where the flag was, and it was a very tight tee shot, and I hit the perfect tee shot, really, so to pull off a couple of shots like that under the pump and under pressure was really big.”
The victory was the culmination of a long recovery from injury for the Queenstown-based 32-year-old, who feels his game is finally coming together after countless struggles with back injuries, which required multiple surgeries.
“My game has been really close the last four or five months, and it feels like it is in a good place at the moment,” he said.
“I had to change my golf swing quite a bit, which has taken a long time to get used to and feel comfortable with, and that’s probably been the biggest struggle.”
While this weekend’s Indonesian Masters in Jakarta, the Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane, and the Australian Open in Sydney are the next targets for Campbell, the Hong Kong Open victory could open doors to bigger events.
“Obviously, it gives me a guaranteed two years out here on the Asian Tour, which is great, but it gets me into the LIV playoff series, and that’s coming up at the end of the year. We’ve got three spots to play for, for LIV, so that would be a big bonus.”
After the LIV playoffs in Abu Dhabi, Campbell intends to return home and spend a couple of weeks relaxing at Castlepoint and get some fishing in before returning to tournament play, with the New Zealand Open at Millbrook, Queenstown, an early target.
