It really happened, unexpectedly. Not only is Martin Kaymer able again to win, but suddenly I realise what such a smart and nice guy he is.
After his frustration at some Masters appearances and his lack of ability to properly draw the ball he decided to fully step back and worked on a complete new swing – together with his coach Günter Kessler. During this period he basically didn’t win a single thing and lived a frustrated life in the lower ranks of the leaderboard, playing less tournaments, missing some cuts here and there… overall a very frustrating period I reckon.
And then last weekend – The Players Championship weekend – almost the golf world’s fifth major tournament: Kaymer had a great first day – not a single bogey, 9 pars, 9 birdies: a record first-nine-holes stretch and the top spot on the leaderboard. On day two and the three he played very solid golf, only scored 2 bogeys on each day and stayed in P1, closely followed by Jordan Spieth, the young upcoming US-American.
On final day he played brilliant golf and managed to increase the lead to 4 shots – just when the weather got worse and play had been interrupted due to lightning. After 90mins of annoying waiting it was almost dark and the guys had to complete the tricky 15-16-17-18… not an easy task.
Kaymer did manage though to stay in the lead and brings home another great trophy which will bring back confidence, self belief and strong will to work himself upwards the world golf ranking list and to get back into the Ryder Cup team for later this year.
He’s is absolutely able to win again! And after watching the press conference it changed a thought process for me as well. I always was kinda reluctant towards Kaymer. Even as a German I wasn’t overly convinced I’d like that guy. Very little emotions, playing in the US rather than in Europe, just a little to plain for my liking.
But probably that’s exactly what German golf is like, probably that’s exactly what Germany needed: No big show – pure efficiency and commitment. Compare that with Langer – he’s not a clown either. Rock solid, pure honesty and absolutely grounded. That might be the winning recipe – at least it was for this tournament.
2 videos you should watch!
Golficiency 