Ben Campbell is a name that should, but probably doesn’t, resonate widely among the Kiwi golfing fraternity. Ben has become something of the invisible man of NZ golf.
Last weekend, for example, for the second time in three weeks, he has pocketed a large chunk of prize money from a rich Asian tournament.
His 4th place at the International Series event in Saudi Arabia saw him take home US$235,000 or close to NZ$500,000. These two healthy pay cheques have lifted Ben’s winnings on the Asian PGA Tour this calendar year to US$1,110,00 which equates to around NZ$2.5 million. Only Ryan Fox, out of our leading male golfers, can match Campbell’s effort this year. His 4th place in Saudi Arabia and his 2nd place in the Hong Kong Open a couple of weeks back are among the very best individual performances by a Kiwi golfer this year, outside of Lydia Ko’s extraordinary late end-of-season run.
Ben’s career exists in something of a golfing vacuum. As he doesn’t play on either of the world’s two leading tours, the USPGA or the DP World Tour, news of his golfing exploits barely gets a mention back here.
His 4 th place last weekend in Saudi Arabia was in a tournament on the Asian Tour that boasted a field of the highest quality. A host of Major Championship winners such as Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel were in the field. That is some field, let me tell you. Yet unless I missed something, none of the big media outlets such as TV1, TV3, Radio New Zealand or even the usually reliable NZ Herald carried news of Campbell’s performance.
Sure, it could be pointed out that the list above of Major Championship winners were for the most part from LIV Golf. They play in Asian Tour events because it then makes them eligible for World Ranking points. The Asian Tour permits LIV Golfers to play in Asian Tour events because it brings mutual benefits to both tours, a trend incidentally which is gradually, if ever so slowly, spreading to the DP World Tour as well. It appears now only the USPGA Tour, the world’s leading tour, refuses to allow LIV Golfers to play in regular weekly USPGA Tour events.
Back to Campbell’s showing in Saudi Arabia. He missed getting into a sudden death play-off by just a single shot, finishing at 20 under after two rounds of 64 on both Saturday and Sunday. Brilliant golf.
However, his latest showing has lifted his world ranking to 139 and now leaves him clearly as New Zealand’s second-ranked male player behind Ryan Fox, currently ranked at number 83 in the world. Campbell began the year ranked 239, so his rapid climb in 2024 is further proof of what an outstanding year he has had.
Ben was also part of an unusual Kiwi triumvirate at this event in the desert which included Nick Voke and Danny Lee. Lee missed the cut, but Nick Voke also enjoyed a reasonably good week, finishing at 9 under in a tie for 50th place, still taking home close to NZ$50,000 in prize money. Nick has enjoyed a good year on this tour, winning all up US$150,000 over the year.
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