Michael Campbell had his lead cut – but by only one stroke - at the halfway stage of the Compass Group English Open at Marriott Forest of Arden. The New Zealander, six ahead after an opening 63, added a second round of 69 for a 12 under par total of 132 and a five stroke advantage over fellow Antipodean, Peter O’Malley, of Australia.
Campbell, enjoying the best year of his golfing life, recovered from an edgy start to finish with two birdies for a second sub-70 which enhanced his prospects of winning a third title on the European Tour’s International Schedule in 2000 following his successes in the Johnnie Walker Classic and Heineken Classic.
O’Malley fired a seven under par 65 to become Campbell’s closest challenge on 137, with Colin Montgomerie, Lee Westwood and local boy Steve Webster all a further two strokes adrift at halfway.
Montgomerie, fresh from an early morning 68 which could, and possibly should, have been a few strokes better, had predicted that the Kiwi would find it difficult to follow his 63 with another very low score.
It appeared that Montgomerie’s usually reliable instinct might be correct when Campbell, after an opening birdie, dropped shots at the third and fourth to drop back to eight under and only three in front of the Scot.
However Campbell recognised that he had become defensive and admitted: “I’m an aggressive player and I became a bit too conservative. I realised that walking down the sixth fairway. Something clicked in my mind and said: ‘This is not me’. So I just fired at the pin and hit my second shot to ten feet and made it for a birdie.”
He added: “It was very hard to back up a 63 mentally because you know you’ve played the round of your life, which I did yesterday. It’s hard to compete against that and in the circumstances 69 was probably a reasonable score. I saw Monty’s score going up while I was working out in the Physio Unit and I could see he was making a charge. He’s always a threat.”
Montgomerie, second and first in the last two British Masters tournaments played at Marriott Forest of Arden in 1997 and 1998, went to the turn in 32, but felt it should have been 31. He missed a four footer for a birdie at the 18th (his ninth) and the momentum came to a grinding halt.
He parred every hole from that juncture and felt a sense of disappointment at shooting 68. He said: “Missing from four feet threw me a bit. I lost momentum. I was rolling along so smoothly that I thought it was given that the four footer would go in.”
O’Malley start his round the conventional way at the first and produced a nine-hole burst which Montgomerie would have loved over the same stretch. He opened with five straight birdies and picked up another shot at the seventh on his way to a 65 which left him five off the pace.
The Australian, who covered the last five holes in seven under par to win the Scottish Open at Gleneagles in 1992, is capable of that type of scoring and he said: “When I get on a run I can reel off a lot of birdies and if I can get a good start I know things can happen. I feel confident when I get on a roll.”
The last time they played together in the final pairing it was Campbell who emerged victorious in the New Zealand Open a few months ago. O’Malley recalled: “We were level with eight holes to play and Cambo birdied six of the last eight to win.”
Westwood felt he didn’t get a lucky break in his round of 70, while Webster, from nearby Atherstone, delighted his friends and family in the gallery with a 69 to join the big guns, Montgomerie and Westwood on 139.
Day 2 Video Highlights
