Kiwi is finally able to taste the fruits of his labor

PINEHURST, N.C. -- This is how a guy from New Zealand celebrates winning the United States Open.

He raises his arms to the sky. He drops his putter. He takes 10 or 12 steps away from the hole, his hands clasped firmly to his hat. He doffs his cap. He shakes hands with playing partner Olin Browne. He hugs Olin Browne. He turns to the grandstand. He pumps his fist. He takes the golf ball and tosses it into the crowd.

Sorry, no Haka. Too stereotypical, I guess.

His name is Michael Campbell and it is a safe assumption that today, tonight, tomorrow, and for some time to come his name will be on the lips of every last one of the 4 million people in his gorgeous country. For, as Tiger Woods's caddie Steve Williams, a fellow Kiwi, said to him in congratulations as they embraced on the 18th green, ''This is the greatest moment in the history of New Zealand sports."

''It was pretty emotional," admitted the 36-year-old Campbell, whose wife was watching at their home in Brighton, England, and whose parents were watching at his home golf club in Wellington, New Zealand, on the southern tip of the North Island.

New Zealand is a sports-minded country, but its international triumphs have been sparse. Rugby is the national passion, and the famed All Blacks are the national pride, as Campbell himself made clear when he took time during his press conference to cheer on the squad, which was playing an important match against the British Lions. ''C'mon, guys," he said, ''you can do it."

They also do a fair bit of sailing down there, as America's Cup aficionados know. But they haven't a whole lot of individual athletic champions over the years.

''I always tell people that if Tiger can't win, I want a New Zealand golfer to win," Williams said. ''But we haven't had a lot of good golfers. Bob Charles has been our best player for the past 50 years."

Do not for a millisecond think Williams was reaching for a laugh. Indeed, the legendary southpaw was the last New Zealander to win a major when he took home the Claret Jug at the British Open in 1963, six years before Campbell was born.

Now Charles has company as a New Zealand-bred major winner in this dogged Maori, who got here by surviving a qualifying test at the Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England. Campbell went from being a touted young player to an injury-riddled golfer who was seriously thinking of quitting the game in 1998, only three years after he had come within two holes of winning the 1995 British Open. At that time, he was coming off a serious wrist injury and was without a card to play golf in Europe or Australia. A few sponsor's exemptions enabled him to get back on his feet and reconstruct his game. The story is well known on the Tour.

''He was playing well, and then all of a sudden he lost it," said Woods, who was in position to make a serious run in this tournament until a dramatic juxtaposition occurred on the 190-yard, par-3 17th, which Tiger bogeyed and Campbell birdied. ''He lost his game. He had to rebuild it from scratch. And he did a fantastic job of coming back -- from a person who was missing cut after cut after cut, to a person who is now US Open champion. That's a lot of work right there, and he should be very proud of it."

Not once all week was anyone thinking too much about Campbell, who was just quietly hanging around. He opened with a solid 71 Thursday, followed with a nice 69 Friday, and posted another 71 Saturday. It didn't matter.

It was all doom and gloom Saturday night as all the experts were resigning themselves to a Sunday Retief Goosen snoozefest. Who cared about Campbell?

''All the media hype was on Goosey winning three times and back-to-back," he said, ''and, obviously, Jason [Gore] was playing so well for three rounds and being the Cinderella story, and Tiger threatening, and Vijay [Singh] threatening, and there was little ol' me, just in there, just hanging in between.

''And I snuck in there, and without anybody noticing, really, and I won."

He won by becoming just one of four men to break par on the final day, the others being Davis Love, Woods, and Stewart Cink. He started his round by making birdie on No. 1, played steadily the rest of the front, and was in the lead by the turn because Goosen was in the process of making a proper mess of his US Open, going out in 6-over 41. Campbell had an up and down back nine, and a surging Tiger got it down to one, but when Tiger bogeyed 16 and 17, Campbell made him pay, good and proper.

''Seventeen was the turning point," he agreed.

He put his tee shot about 25 feet from the pin and he stepped up and knocked that baby in. That was a clutch putt in any hemisphere.

When the dust had settled, Campbell was a worthy winner. We kept hearing all week that you couldn't be even remotely aggressive, that birdies were like precious pieces of gold. Campbell led all comers with 16 birdies.

So what exactly was going on here? Campbell had known no real success on these shores. In 47 previous starts on American soil, he had missed 22 cuts. He had missed the cut in his last four US Opens, and just three months ago, he shot a dismal 89 in the Players Tournament.

''I like this course," he explained. ''It reminds me of a lot of courses in Australia and Europe."

That's certainly news.

Another thing he liked was his playing partner. ''It was a great break for me to play with Olin Browne," Campbell said. ''He was very supportive. I want him to know he's a true gentleman, and I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart."

OK, he liked the course. He liked his playing partner. But he also admitted he had to be persuaded by his caddie, Michael Waite, to qualify in the first place. Again, why Campbell? Why now? Why was Campbell the one who best survived the punishment dished out by Pinehurst No. 2, where in the last two Opens only one man, the late Payne Stewart, has broken par?

Why? Why? Why?

''It's unbelievable," said Campbell, clutching the championship trophy. ''That's all I can say. I worked hard for it. I deserve it, I think. And I have it. So it's all mine."

That's right. Back in his homeland, the Bob Charles Era is finally over.

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is ryan@globe.com.