{"id":14683,"date":"2014-11-12T12:58:33","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T12:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/michael-campbell-the-wisdom-of-a-champion\/"},"modified":"2014-11-12T12:58:33","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T12:58:33","slug":"michael-campbell-the-wisdom-of-a-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/michael-campbell-the-wisdom-of-a-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Campbell, the wisdom of a champion"},"content":{"rendered":"

He gets out of his BMW X5 and appears in jeans, a summery short-sleeved shirt in a striking fuchsia color, trendy sunglasses and a smile on his face. Relaxed, as if he had just woken up from a nap. We are about to start October and the thermometer, at five o’clock in the afternoon, reads 28 degrees. <\/p>\n

The Spanish lifestyle and the good weather in Costa del Sol practically all year round are two of the reasons why Michael Campbell, the 2005 US Open winner, decided to move here with his family two years ago and leave behind the, in every sense of the word, cold Switzerland. The 45-year-old New Zealand star has decided to broaden his professional horizons and has embarked on an adventure that had been on his mind for a long time: teaching golf, of course. <\/p>\n

For his first academy he has chosen one of the largest and most renowned golf resorts in Spain: Villa Padierna, which houses the luxurious “six-star” hotel of the same name and three 18-hole courses: Flamingos, Alferini and Tramores. You can feel his enthusiasm. <\/p>\n

-Why did you choose the Costa del Sol and Villa Padierna for your first golf academy?<\/p>\n

-First of all, the most important thing I found is that you can play golf all year round. We, my family, moved from England to Australia, to Switzerland and then to here two and a half years ago. I love it here. The sun is always shining here, most of the year, so I think it’s a great condition for a golf academy because you can play all year round, whereas in most of Europe they can only do it for three or four months. <\/p>\n

This area, with its international side, is very attractive to me and I like the lifestyle here. I like everything about it. It’s very casual and everyone enjoys it here, so it’s really a combination of many things, not just one. <\/p>\n

We own a house 20 minutes from the hotel (Villa Padierna resort). My wife and I stayed there for one night, loved the area and bought a house. <\/p>\n

-What does this Academy offer, apart from a US Open champion, compared to the competition?<\/p>\n

-I think I am quite capable of passing on my knowledge to other coaches and, obviously, to individuals as well. I have been playing golf since I was 8 years old, so after 37 years I have accumulated a lot of knowledge. I have played against the best in the world and beaten them on several occasions. What really influenced me was, after winning the U.S. Open, a letter from Jack Nicklaus in which he told me: “Congratulations on your triumph, but now you have the responsibility to pass on your knowledge to the new generations”. That was ten years ago, and since then it has been in my mind to do something to pass on what I have learned, the experience of my golf career so far. <\/p>\n

-Why did you choose teaching over golf course design or being a television commentator?<\/p>\n

-I have made some forays into both facets. I’ve commented on tournaments on television, but frankly I prefer to play rather than watch, because I’m very critical of my fellow players’ play. And I’ve also designed a couple of courses, but I love to play and I really enjoy teaching, especially in the last six months. I’ve been home for a long time injured, and I’ve really enjoyed giving some lessons here and there, especially to young kids. They are my main focus right now. <\/p>\n

-What advice would you give to someone who wants to start playing golf?<\/p>\n

-The first thing is to enjoy it, quite simply. It is a sport that can be played for many years. Look at Jim\u00e9nez, for example, who is 50 and almost won at Augusta this year. In tennis or soccer, once you’ve reached 30 or 32 you’re done, but in golf you can keep playing and be competitive at a very high level. <\/p>\n

-What about a professional who aspires to be a Tour player?<\/p>\n

-A lot of hard work, a lot of dedication, you have to have a lot of confidence in yourself, and really learn from your big mistakes. Good shots are going to get them. It’s such a fickle game that you think you can win every tournament you play, but all of a sudden, the next day, things go wrong very quickly. So having respect for the game is very important. The most important thing for young people who aspire to become professionals is to jump in and keep practicing and playing and competing, and eventually you learn how to win and it gets easier. But you have to have a great respect for the sport. <\/p>\n

-What are the most frequent mistakes made by ameturs?<\/p>\n

-In a lot of amateurs, what I basically see all the time is that when they make mistakes or if they have a tricky hole, they all focus on that hole, not on the shot in front of them. The most important thing is to try to stay in the present moment. <\/p>\n

-What do you like most about the golf instructor profession?<\/p>\n

-To meet these wonderful players. We are just human beings playing golf at a very high level, but deep down we are people like everyone else. I have a lot of mates playing on the tours now, winning all over the world, playing majors…. The friendships I’ve made over the last 20 years as a player are incredible. But also other people. Everybody plays golf, and that’s the common denominator. Prime ministers, presidents, rock stars, movie stars, and it’s nice that they share common ground. It makes the atmosphere very relaxing and easy going. I’ve built a lot of friends from all over the world, and that’s kind of cool. <\/p>\n

-What do you think of the European victory in the Ryder Cup?<\/p>\n

-I knew from the beginning that they were the favorites to win. The American team was missing three great players. Obviously Tiger I think still has that intimidation factor, Dustin Johnson withdrew for personal reasons and (Jason) Dufner was injured, so there were three key players that didn’t play. So it definitely wasn’t a surprise how the score came out on Sunday. <\/p>\n

-How long do you think McIlroy will last as world number one?<\/p>\n

-I think a long time. He now has renewed confidence after he won his first major in 2011 and his second this year. As long as he stays fit and strong, he’s going to be very hard to beat. The most important thing in this game is confidence, and right now he’s riding that cloud of confidence. <\/p>\n

-Do you think Tiger Woods will recover and go back to being the “extraterrestrial” he was?<\/p>\n

-My personal opinion about Tiger is basically that his body has changed a lot. I think he has become too big. If you compare his body shape in 2000 and now, it’s completely different. And his injuries… now his body is not in the right condition to be number one in the world. He always has the talent, there is no doubt about that, incredible talent. I’ve played with Tiger on many occasions and it’s amazing what he can do with a golf ball, but I think physically he has to change his workout routine and get back to where he was. I think he should lose weight. He’s too big and too strong now. <\/p>\n

-What do you miss most about the time when you were at the top of your career?<\/p>\n

-Competing and beating the best in the world. That’s a very nice feeling, and when you have the best players in the world on the tournament roster and you’re at the top of that roster… that’s what I miss the most. Just competing. You can hit balls on the driving range as long as you want, but when you’re in play competing against the best in the world and you get to beat them a few times, it’s like a cool feeling. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He gets out of his BMW X5 and appears in jeans, a summery short-sleeved shirt in a striking fuchsia color, trendy sunglasses and a smile on his face. Relaxed, as if he had just woken up from a nap. We are about to start October and the thermometer, at five o’clock in the afternoon, reads […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"","rank_math_canonical_url":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":""},"categories":[128],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}