Was all of that such a surprise though?

I understood that my win was a big deal. But it was getting out of control. So we went back to Sydney, where we were living at the time. But we didn’t go to the house; we rented a boat and lived in the harbour for a week. I just had to get away.

Look, I’m not resentful of the attention I got. I was flattered that my fellow Kiwis were so excited. But it just got to be too much. I’ve never been a ‘centre of attention’ kind of guy. I hate it actually. But that was the start of my problems with the game.

I take full responsibility for the fact that I did so much stuff away from the game. My biggest mistake was saying ‘yes’ to everybody. I went to an incredible number of functions. I did endless outings all over the world. And it all took my focus away from golf. By the end of 2006 I was practising less and not going to the gym that often. And I began to see deterioration in my play.

Campbell defeated Woods by two shots at Pinehurst in 2005. PHOTO: Getty Images.

I was trying to make the most of my success while I could. There was a lot of money coming in. A lot. And it was hard to turn down. I remember Retief Goosen warning me about my time management. But I didn’t listen well enough. He had made the same mistakes I was making and his game suffered too.

It was just so hard to say ‘no’ to the deals I was offered. But I don’t blame IMG for what happened. It is their job to bring these things to my attention. But I did too much. As I said, I take full responsibility. In the end, it just became too much for me. I couldn’t manage all that stuff and play competitive golf to the standard I wanted.

So, are you bothered by the fact that you are remembered most for one week of your life? You won a lot of big events other than the US Open.

Not at all. I don’t really care to be honest. I achieved my ultimate goal as a player. Not many people do that. If I did make a mistake, it was not re-focusing on winning another major. I think I could have done that. But I lost the motivation and the desire. I should have dug deep though.