In the bi-annual Team cups, some players are asked to play five 18 hole matches in three days and whilst the losers always look gone and drained, even the winners have the ghosts of battle on their faces. They can have played golf without thought (or seemed to have had no fear) doing things they would never have dreamed of in a strokeplay event. They are also only committed to 18 holes, and have no room for the comebacks that are lore in the HSBC World Matchplay.

Campbell said he had played 170 holes of golf in 6 days, the sort of stuff which makes administrators cry out when it happens that the best amateurs, and often many Juniors, do spend every waking hour on a golf course over the Summer. But that was to be one of McGinleys' strengths, his experiences of Matchplay golf as an Amateur, in the 7 years between age 19 (and a 7 Handicap) and having turned Pro at 26 after actually having earned an ordinary living for a few years working for the EU.

In the 19 years since that rather high handicap ('I wasn't a whiz kid as a Junior') McGinley has gathered only 4 Tour wins and his reaction after the final was forthright and humbling -

'It hurts like you can't imagine - like you just can't believe. I holed so many putts in the first three days I kind of thought I wasn't going to make them today.'

Whilst there were many great McGinley approaches, if one moment summed up how tired he was, it was after his second to the 18th in the morning round had hit the back of a sound man from the Beeb and just stayed short of some pretty bushes (unless you are a golfer). McGinley was cross but found the place he could make a shot from. Before he hit though he yawned, neither from boredom nor laziness, just from the stress that he found himself under.

The morning round started with the first of 8 occasions where Campbell was closer to the flag than McGinley in regulation or when both players had played the same number of shots to make the twice cut 12.5ft stimp-meter read greens which were adding to the problems for the players.

McGinley holed his longer putt and won the first then had to watch as Campbell applied pressure with better approach play in little batches of holes, in-between of which McGinley 'did his stuff' and reversed the situation. McGinley only did this six times (hit closer to the flag) so being one down at lunch was a fair reflection of the morning's golf - good tee to green (with no outrageous escapes to demoralise either player) but no real putting magic.

Campbell has found a new contentment in his life by some very personal soul searching that he will keep to himself. He now acts and plays like a man who has won a Major is expected to do, believing he can win again and coming close at the Open by making Top 5 after the win at Pinehurst. This attitude helped him through some dogged and really pretty ordinary golf that took him past Steve Elkington, only to also be there where a birdie and eagle barrage had turned the normally serene Retief Goosen into a golfer (for the day) that the South African himself described as 'terrible'.

Goosen is a double Major winner and would have known how important his semi-final against Campbell was for the Order of Merit, let alone as a match to take the highest ranked golfer into a final he could well win, had he been able to come back against the pressure applied by Campbell. Perhaps the two wins in the preceding weeks had made the smoothest swinger another tired player. It seemed the same for Campbell as he tried to break away from McGinley, which he almost did as the second eighteen started and Campbell moved to a three up lead. It could have been more but for three great McGinley recovery putts.

Then the match swung back to McGinley. He made a birdie at the 6th and didn't need to hole his short putt at the next. And two putts from the fringe at the 9th took the Irish star back to all square. Both made a bit of a hash of the 10th, with a three putt and failed up and down from the edge of the green and having both hit close at the 11th, neither putt dropped.

McGinley was right off the tee on the par five 12th. His three wood made the right hand greenside bunker and it seem that Campbell could apply pressure by hitting his four iron onto the green. Instead he pulled it left barely a foot in bounds but on the course up against a two wire fence.

Campbell adjust his stance, his club and his attack on the ball and hit a fantastic approach to 6ft. McGinley blasted out to 12 ft and missed, which Campbell did not -

'That could have been a two hole swing', said the Kiwi afterwards.

What happened next was for Campbell to pull his drive and blind to the 13th green, find a front bunker and not make a sand save. McGinley this time chipped and putted but the short approach was a key of what was to come.

McGinley was again short on the 14th and the match stayed all square courtesy of Campbell missing from 15ft for a two. The US Open Champion was then slightly right at the next but long enough to get past the trees to the front left pin - no precision approach possible though which was the McGinley visual from the centre of the fairway and the green set to take a draw close to the flag.

What happened was a block into the right hand greenside bunker by the Irishman and a failed up and down from an impossible situation as putting from high on the 15th green is difficult enough.

With Campbell in one of the left hand fairway bunkers, McGinley then played his final 'tired' shot of the final, a pull deep into the trees on this infamous hole. It took a miracle recovery left handed from almost under a log for McGinley to have a shot at the green when most would have been back on the tee playing three. Campbell assured himself of a four though so they made their way to the 17th with McGinley needing two fours at worst. Unfortunately Campbell was soon to turn and shake hands after a deft chip to the green which ended up barely three inches from being an eagle.

'I changed everything at the beginning of the year', said Campbell, remarking on new phsyical trainers and other parts of 'Team Cambo' and his move to IMG as management, 'And even when I missed the first five cuts of the year, I never pushed the panic button once.

'I have a constant mindset now, one which will enhance my performance.

'Its one of my goals to take the Order of Merit and I've two events left - the Amex and the Volvo Masters, and then I'm done', added Campbell after his win took him to the No 1 position.

'Paul is a hard man to knock-over. It was a great tussle, and very tense, like on a knife edge.

'They need to keep this format - even if keeps the others away. When the good players get KO'd in 18, they all say "There is not enough holes".

'Like Tiger is KO'd by a lesser player in the last two World Championship events - the TV ratings go down because he's not there. I am proud to be on this trophy with all these great winners. When you get to our stage of a career, we are financially set. I like competing and winning trophies so the $1M is great but the title is special. I am part of history.'

One afterthought was the difference in pay-days for the respective caddies. One would have picked up ý100 000 as 10% of the ý1M winners cheque.

For a place though, its only 5% which for the Runner's up prize of ý400K, meant a fifth of that winning caddies bonus - ý20K. Whatever the reward - anyone for caddy school, even if it means carrying a bag for 170 holes or more!