Peaking at right time key for Campbell

Ben Campbell is looking forward to butting heads with some of the best golfers in the world in his second year on the LIV circuit.

The Queenstown golfer has re-signed for the RangeGoats team led by two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson.

Campbell, Peter Uihlein and Matthew Wolff will all return to join Watson for another season after the quartet finished 10th in the LIV team championship last season.

"It’s obviously nice to be back on LIV this year, and I’m looking forward to the year," Campbell told the Otago Daily Times from Florida.

Campbell was the second-highest individual finisher on the RangeGoats at 36th on the 2025 leaderboard, but as he was in the "open zone" — positions 25 to 48 — he did not immediately know if he had a deal for 2026.

That was not as dramatic as it sounded, Campbell said. He was always talking regularly to the team and confident he was a good shot to keep his place.

The 34-year-old was a solid performer in the Saudi-backed LIV series last year, his first as a fully contracted player after making several appearances as a substitute in 2024.

His best finish was third at LIV Singapore, finishing behind runaway money list leader Joaquin Niemann and Brooks Koepka, while he banked a solid $US3.09 million ($NZ5.39m) for the year.

But while Campbell is now a regular on an elite circuit, having overcome several injuries during his career, and is a humble character, he is always demanding more of himself.

"I don’t feel like I played that well last year," he said.

"I sort of battled with my swing a little bit throughout the year, and there was plenty of work to build on.

"I had three tournaments where I was in the top 10 going into the last day and didn’t quite finish it off.

"But I’ve had a really good month or so working on the swing, and I feel like my game’s in a good spot.

"There’s a couple more weeks until the first event so I should just be able to fine-tune things and be in a good spot heading into the new year."

Campbell, whose signature moment was winning the Hong Kong Open on the Asian Tour in 2023, missed two LIV tournaments last year after withdrawing from the Mexico event after the first round.

He damaged a tendon in his wrist after a practice swing hit a bit too much turf, and needed a rehabilitation period at home.

There were no specific goals in his mind for his second full LIV year but he is a golfer — he wants to contend on Sundays and win tournaments.

"It would be nice. I think there’s five or six LIV courses that really suit my game, and last year I just didn’t quite have what I wanted at those events.

"If I can fine-tune my planning and scheduling, and just get in a bit of a better position to tackle those courses ... I feel like I’ve got a good idea of the events that will really suit me.

"It’s just about peaking at the right time."

There is a big change coming for the fifth LIV season.

Despite literally being named after the Roman numerals for 54, the tour will expand from 54 hole-tournaments (three rounds) to the regulation 72 holes (four rounds), largely in a bid to have its golfers treated fairly in the world golf rankings.

"I don’t think it will change too much, to be honest," Campbell said.

"I think it will suit my style of game but it probably won’t really change things all that much."

Campbell is in the United States for another week before coming home to prepare for the LIV opener in Saudi Arabia on February 4-7.

He will play at LIV Adelaide a week later before coming back to Arrowtown for the 105th New Zealand Open starting on February 26.

Campbell has twice finished second at his home Open and there would be no more popular winner if he could get it done at Millbrook.

"It’s one of the ones I’d like to win the most, and it’s always nice to play at home and sleep in your own bed.

"I’ve got a lot of people in Queenstown who have helped me out and it would be nice to able to get the win there. Yeah, it’d be huge, and I will be doing everything I possibly can."

hayden.meikle@odt.co.nz