Kiwi flies too high for Tiger

‘‘No, are you really ready for this one,’’ she insisted. ‘‘I told her, ‘Yes, I’m really ready for this one,’ ’’ her husband said.

Few long-shot golfers have ever been more ready for their one day — in Campbell’s case, quite probably the only day in his life — when every circumstance has conspired to give him one glorious, if improbable, chance to grab his piece of history.

Campbell not only won this 105th Open, which ranks among the greatest sporting achievement by a New Zealander, but he faced down Tiger Woods throughout the back nine to do it. It’s strictly by a win-the-lottery shot that Campbell even got to play at Pinehurst. For the first time, the US Golf Association staged qualifying outside the US, and Campbell got a spot in England.

After his victory, Woods’s caddie Steve Williams, who is also from New Zealand, hugged Campbell and told him, ‘‘You made a lot of people back home very, very proud.’’ With that, Campbell almost broke down in tears.

Still, he did not lose his sense of humor. Woods makes so much money a year that Williams is known as the highest paid ‘‘athlete’’ in New Zealand. ‘‘Now I’ve got it,’’ said Campbell.

‘Michael, what he’s done today, is one of the biggest sporting accomplishments for New Zealand’’, Woods said. ‘‘If you exclude the (rugby) All Blacks, there’s nothing else they really focus on. … Now, he’s taken golf to a whole new level.’’

Golf history loves its footnotes, and this Open has a unique one. During a delay on the 15th tee, when Campbell’s lead was down to two shots and his visits to various bathrooms around the course were increasing in frequency, his playing partner Olin Browne, who was enduring a miserable day, took Campbell aside to tell him a joke.

‘‘Olin is a true gentleman. When I needed someone to help relax me, he really helped me,’’ said Campbell. ‘‘I thank him from the bottom of my heart.’’

For his exceptional play, and his even more improbable story, all of golf thanks Michael Campbell.

(LA Times-Washington Post)