PEBBLE BEACH, Calif (AP) - Michael Campbell's victory at Pinehurst in 2005 started a run of unheralded golfers - sans Tiger Woods in 2008 - to walk away with U.S. Open titles.
Now the 41-year-old New Zealand native struggles to break 80. He hasn't made a cut in 2010 and hasn't shot a round in the 60s on either the European or PGA tours in nearly a year.
It appears to be a dramatic fall.
Over four rounds at Pinehurst in 2005, Campbell remained steady throughout the brutal conditions, shooting 69 in the final round to hold off Woods by two shots.
He arrives at Pebble Beach in what appears to be the worst slump of his career, having shot 80 or higher in nine of the 15 competitive rounds he's completed in 2010. His U.S. Open exemption lasts another five years, but Campbell seems nowhere near his 2005 form.
"I do my own thing. My view on it is it's just the game of golf," Campbell said on Wednesday. "I still feel privileged to actually play the game that I love and make a living from it."
The year Campbell won the Open was the high point of his career. He followed up the victory at Pinehurst with a fifth place finish at the British Open and a sixth at the PGA Championship. He played in the Presidents Cup and was poised to be the next great Kiwi golfer.
It's been a complete struggle since, each year getting progressively worse.
The last cut Campbell made in a PGA event was the 2008 PGA Championship, where he finished 13 over. He hasn't made a cut in a European Tour event since last September in the European Masters.
"It's just the way I am. It's what I do," Campbell said. "I've always done it. Ever since I was a kid growing up as a junior in amateur golf I've always done this. I'm used to it, but you guys are not."
To that end, the difficult setup of a U.S. Open and Pebble Beach might not be the best remedy for Campbell's struggling game. He's played just seven times on the European Tour this season and badly missed the cut in both of his PGA Tour stops at Bay Hill and the Masters.
He played two weeks ago at the Wales Open and the results weren't encouraging - 76 in the first round, 78 in the second. Meanwhile, Graeme McDowell won the event at 15 under.
"I'm looking at the big picture right now rather than the small picture," Campbell said. "It's about plugging away and working on your processes and the outcome will come."