In her second year as a member of the Ladies European Tour, Nikki Campbell has proved one of the most consistent performers, finishing inside the top ten in half of her appearances including twice as the runner-up. She was joint second at the Deloitte Ladies Open in Holland and then solo second at the ISPS HANDA Ladies European Masters in July. With 111,996.07 euros in season’s earnings she is currently ranked fifth on the LET’s Order of Merit, only behind Suzann Pettersen, Shanshan Feng, Charley Hull and Gwladys Nocera.
You are currently ranked 5th and that you have had already 5 top-10s this year, what do you think have been the key elements of these good results? To be honest quite a lot of things have changed for me this year. Firstly I have changed clubs. I am now using the Ping i25 irons and driver and have gone to a much lighter steel shaft in my irons. I find the new clubs much easier to swing and from the moment I first hit them I just loved the feeling. I am now trying to get back into the gym. I had two and a half years off from the gym due to an issue with my appendix which ran me down. After I eventually had them removed a year and a half ago it took a while to start feeling stronger again and now I am back in the gym and slowly getting some distance back. Overall I am just enjoying playing golf and playing in Europe.
What have you been practicing in the past months, before and during this season? In the past months I have pretty much been doing the same training as I always have. The differences are probably playing more holes in practice and getting back into the gym.
How difficult you find it to play on this tour coming from Australia? Where do you normally practice when you are not playing tournaments? Travelling from Australia to Europe to play tournaments is challenging. Long flights and jet lag take time to get over but this year’s schedule allows me more time between events so that the trip back to Australia is more worth while.
How would you define your game now? According to the stats, you are ranked 13th on putting average, under 30. But I can’t see you within the top 20 on birdie stats. What is the best part of your game? What about iron accuracy? What about your confidence making birdie putts? I would say that the improvement in my game is mostly in my iron play. When I feel like I am playing well I give myself lots of good chances at birdies and when the putts drop the score looks after itself.
You have been very close to winning an event this year. What do you think you would need to win your first LET tournament? I think that to win an event is just about being patient and giving myself the best opportunities. Hopefully when the putts drop the win will happen.
