Golf Champion Michael Campbell Calls It Quits

Former US Open Champion New Zealander Michael Campbell, 46, is retiring from golf to concentrate on running his golf academy in Malaga, Spain.

Campbell, who won the Open at Pinehurst in 2005, told New Zealand’s Radio Sport that retiring was a hard decision but “I have no complaints to walk away from the game that has given me such a wonderful life.”

He said he hopes to play senior tournaments when he becomes eligible in four years’ time.

Campbell won the US Open during a breakout year in 2005 in which he also won the World Matchplay Championships at Wentworth.

He was only the second New Zealander to win a major after Bob Charles, who won the 1963 British Open.

“Obviously [winning the Open] 10 years ago was something special for me and for the country and for golf itself,” Campbell said. “I fulfilled one of my dreams to win a major and it was fantastic.”

The Michael Campbell Villa Padierna Golf Academy is the flagship academy for the golfer. He has plans to establish others in Asia and New Zealand.

Original article by Associated Pres, ABC News, May 1, 2015.

Photo by AP.