Michael Campbell's descent may not have been quite as spectacular as that of the supersonic skydiver Felix Baumgartner but, in golfing terms, it was certainly quite a fall.
Seven years ago, the New Zealander was on top of the world as a major champion but, like Baumgartner, he came hurtling back down to earth at a furious pace.
Campbell's US Open victory in 2005, when he staved off the advances of Tiger Woods at Pinehurst, earned him a triumphant ticker-tape parade through the streets of his home city of Wellington but his career would eventually hit a dead end during an incredible slump.
It was encouraging, therefore, to see the popular Kiwi claim third place in the Portugal Masters on Sunday. It was the first time the former World Matchplay champion had posted a top-three finish since 2008 and his 12-under-par tally of 272, made up by cards of 68, 69, 67 and 68, was the first time he had reeled off four consecutive rounds in the 60s in almost a decade.
Given his fortunes on the fairways in recent years, and the dire straits into which he had been plunged, Campbell will not be getting carried away by one podium place but at least there is something positive to build on. When he last played in the Portugal Masters in 2010, Campbell, who reached as high as No.13 in the world rankings, had slithered to 1325th. His top-three finish at the weekend in the same event has hoisted him to No.361 as he continues on the road to recovery.
"I came here with no expectations really," said the 43-year-old, who was second on the European order of merit in 2005. "I just wanted to have some fun with my golf. I felt very much in control of my emotions and very much in control of my golf swing.
"If someone said to me at the start of the week, 'look, Michael, you'll finish third or fourth after this week', I'd be very happy, indeed. I felt very calm out there once again and being in contention is a nice feeling to have."
Elsewhere around the globe, Russell Knox's late-season rally continued as he claimed the best result of his rookie year on the PGA Tour with a tie for ninth in the Frys.com Open in California. The Inverness exile, 13th in Las Vegas the previous weekend, is now 157th on the money list with only the top 125 at the end of the season retaining their cards. Knox will look to continue his push at this week's McGladrey Classic in Georgia.
On the women's scene, Catriona Matthew also notched her highest finish of the LPGA Tour season, fourth in the Sime Darby Championship in Malaysia. The 43-year-old, who won the Irish Open on the Ladies European Tour in August, has now had five top-10 finishes in another profitable campaign.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article