September 2, 2008–Expectant father Chad Campbell is a former two-time All-American at UNLV, and this week U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Paul Azinger made Campbell one of his four captain's picks for the team that will play against Europe later this month at Valhalla in Kentucky. It's the third-straight Ryder Cup appearance for Campbell, and Azinger is looking forward to having the solid Campbell on the team. "I thought Chad had a little bit of experience, and the fact that Chad played really well this past tournament helped him," Azinger said in a press conference. "Chad also is a terrific ball-striker tee-to-green, and when I narrowed my list down to three or four players, his name came up a lot. That was important to me. When I started crunching numbers on Chad, knowing his personality and knowing the way he hits it, then after talking to Chad, I knew right away that he was the right guy." Campbell took part in the conference via phone while sitting in a Dallas parking lot as his wife, Amy, was meeting with doctors about her pregnancy.
"I don't think it will affect that at all," Campbell said about the baby's arrival and the potential implications to his playing in the Ryder Cup. "Funny that you ask, I'm actually sitting in the parking lot of the doctor's office and my wife is up there waiting on me to come up there, so we'll find out in about 15, 20 minutes how things are going."
Captain Azinger then joked that maybe they should let Campbell attend to his business. But Campbell loyally stayed on the call and talked about getting the congratulatory call from Azinger.
"I was pretty excited," said Campbell. " I didn't really — didn't really know. I knew I was on the outside looking in, but I was just hoping and felt like I played pretty well over the last couple months, other than a couple tournaments. I was just hoping that — you know, hoping that he saw that. And I feel like I'm playing as well as I ever have right now. I feel like I'm honored to be picked and I appreciate the opportunity."
Campbell fired a final-round 66 to finish 7th at the FedEx CUp's Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston. He then rushed home to be with his wife. Depending on how things go, Campbell will decide whether or not to play in this week's FedEx Cup event in St. Louis.
"Chad is a terrific ball-striker," said Azinger. "He's third on TOUR in all-around. He's in the Top-10 in ball-striking. And he's fairly long off the tee."