Cambo and Sponge get the success they richly deserve

Caddie's Role: It was the early 1990s and Michael Campbell arrived on the European Tour.

Meanwhile, his present New Zealand caddie, Mike Waite, was by then already well experienced working for Ian Baker-Finch on the US Tour. In fact Waite was probably more recognised as a toter than Campbell was as a rookie player.

It didn't take long for the world to recognise Cambo's immense talent. It wasn't till 1998 that Waite got a chance to work close at hand with that talent. He had caddied for the volatile Robert Allenby and parted company with him and put the word out that he was looking for a good player to caddie for.

Waite got into caddying having been an enthusiastic amateur in Stratford, Taranaki, on the west side of the North Island of New Zealand.

He moved to Brisbane, Australia, like so many of his compatriots, in search of work. He found it on a building site and spent a year and a half in construction.

Then came the lure of the tour. He got the chance to caddie for his compatriot Grant Waite (no relation) in a Queensland event on the Australian Tour. It was the caddie's debut as well as the player's, and they made their first professional cut.

That was back in 1986 and back then most of us caddies looped in the Southern Hemisphere in their summer and the Northern Hemisphere in our summer.

You had to be organised but it was also easier to plan bags because back then there were more players than caddies. Naturally the Antipodeans liked to employ caddies from closer to home if they could.

So Mike arranged to work for the young gun of the time, the ebullient Wayne Riley, and they arrived in Europe full of hope.

It was during a practice round in rain-soaked France between Riley and Ian Roberts that Waite got his nickname.

Roberts took a look at the drenched Waite and said: "Look at you, mate. I never realised you had hair like that - you look like a sponge."

Ever since, he has been known on the tour as Sponge.

It didn't take long for Sponge to earn the reputation as a sound person and a good caddie on tour.

Last week's win in Pinehurst was his 25th as a caddie and his ninth with Campbell. By his own admission, Sponge always rated Cambo.

When Waite began caddying for Campbell, the player had just regained his playing rights on the European Tour after an early hiccup in his career. He finished with Allenby, worked for Stephen Leaney and won with him but then got the chance to join Campbell full time.

Early in the year 2000, the duo won three out of four events they entered, including the Johnnie Walker, the Heineken Open in New Zealand and the Australian Masters in Melbourne.

They are a well-matched pair. Both are very laid back and they know how to treat each other. They are good friends but they know when to give each other space.

They probably have dinner about once a month together; otherwise they give themselves a break off the course, which is the best way when you spend so much time together on the course.

There was a statement of intent by Campbell when he decided to enter the first European US Open qualifying event in Walton Heath 10 days before the tournament, having been persuaded by his former manager Andrew Ramsey (Rambo) to try to qualify. It turned out to be a wise decision.

Such was his commitment to the US Open that he pulled out of the Dutch Open the same week. It was going to be all or nothing, no compromise.

Despite the Campbell team and probably most of the other competitors feeling like they were playing for second place in the US Open given the lead my man, Retief Goosen, enjoyed going into the final round, it didn't take long for Sponge to realise the lead was very much in sight.

On the fifth hole Cambo made an improbable up and down from the left side of the green. That was possibly the worst place you could have missed that green to a left pin, it was deep and dark down there. It didn't bother the intrepid Maori; he got up and down for par.

As Sponge glanced at the leaderboard on the sixth green he realised that they were tied for the lead.

There was a list of up-and-downs after the fifth that were obviously to prove decisive during the final round of the US Open, including on nine. Sponge admits his man thinned his chip slightly, which at Pinehurst usually means double bogey. Instead his ball hung on the edge of the green and he holed the putt for birdie. On 15 he made another unlikely save. This is what you have to do to win under the pressures of the last round in majors.

The Campbell camp were aware from an early stage of Sunday's round that they were dealing with some extra energy; there was so much adrenaline pumping around Cambo's body that he had to be careful not to hit his ball over every green.

He was taking a club less than he normally would hit, even into the wind, because they both realised the ball was travelling an exceptional distance on top of what was being allowed for the heat.

Campbell disappeared into the ample comfort zone of his caddie Sponge's torso on the 18th green at Pinehurst a couple of Sundays ago after sinking his winning putt and capturing the 105th US Open title.

Myself and Retief were standing about 120 yards down the fairway watching his greatest golf achievement to date unfold. We both raised our arms in recognition of his success.

Retief was genuinely happy that, if he was not going to win, then it should be his good friend Michael Campbell that got to live the experience of being a major champion.