Hometown hope looks for smooth going in the rough

Missing the fairways at Millbrook Resort still won’t carry the penal punishment at a major championship like the US Open, but the extra challenge should be enough that Campbell is forecasting the winning score on Sunday afternoon will not be as low as last year when Australian Ryan Peake was victorious by a shot at 23-under-par.
 
In very friendly scoring conditions, the top 15 players on the leaderboard 12 months ago were 16-under-par or better. The halfway cut came at 5-under.
 
“From my perspective I’m very happy to see it like that,” Campbell said today of the conditions off the fairway on the Coronet and Remarkables layouts.
 
“We haven’t had a great summer here, so there’s been plenty of rain.
 
“I’ve never really seen the hills around here in Queenstown looking this green so it’s great for the farmers.
 
“I think it’ll definitely change (my strategy). I normally hit driver everywhere. There’s a couple of holes where I’m going to hit 3-wood this year.
 
“It will definitely help with the scores. Hopefully the greens get nice and fast and with some good solid rough like that, I think probably the scores won’t quite be where they have been in the last couple of years.”
 
The potentially tougher conditions for the 105th New Zealand Open also drew support from Campbell’s LIV Golf rival Lucas Herbert, although he hadn’t noticed as much change as his Kiwi friend.
 
“I feel like a bit of an idiot because I’ve played 27 holes in the practice rounds and haven’t noticed it a hell of a lot so either I’m not very observant or I’m hitting a lot of fairways,” the Australian joked.
 
“(Last year’s scores) maybe suggest that we could test guys a little more and I guess for us too, we don’t have to feel like we’re shooting 5-under to have level par for the day and hold our position in the field.”
 
One thing that won’t be different this week is that Queenstown’s Campbell will again be cheered on by a passionate home crowd eager to see a first New Zealand winner of the Brodie Breeze Trophy since Michael Hendry in 2017.
 
Last year, the Millbrook Resort member was in touch of the lead with back-to-back 67s before fading on the weekend to finish outside the top 50.
 
“I think it helps me a lot,” Campbell said of playing at home.
 
“It’s very special to come and play in front of a lot of people that support you throughout the year.”
 
As has been the case for many years now, the New Zealand Open has one of the season’s most cosmopolitan fields with 15 nationalities represented.
 
This year’s contingent of visitors from the Japan Golf Tour is especially strong, featuring nine players ranked inside the top 12 on the 2025 Order of Merit who are playing the first of two consecutive weeks in New Zealand, including one of last year’s joint runners-up Kazuki Higa.
 
The list from co-sanctioning partner, the Asian Tour, includes 10 of its top 20 from last year.
 
There’s also a star-studded group of pro-am participants this week including 11-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater, Australian Test cricket captain Ricky Ponting and Grand Slam winner Ash Barty.