Kaymer in the groove as his game ‘complete’
Just 11 months ago, Kaymer was looking washed up and bewildered as he struggled for form, a pale imitation of the golfer who had broken through in 2010 with a victory in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits and an ascent towards the top of the world rankings.
He had enough points in the bank to qualify for Jose Maria Olazabal’s European team looking to defend the Ryder Cup at Medinah but his slump in form was alarming enough to have some wondering whether he should do the decent thing and stand aside for the cause.
After a wobbly start in Chicago, Kaymer had the last laugh, sinking a six-foot putt on the last hole to defeat Steve Stricker to secure the point needed to complete the Miracle at Medinah. And he has not looked back since.
Confidence renewed, the 28-year-old is once again a force to be reckoned with, a point confirmed by his back-to-back 68s in the company of defending champion Rory McIlroy at this week’s PGA Championship that have him poised for a big challenge this weekend at Oak Hill.
Yesterday, Kaymer spoke of his struggle with the expectations that accompanied his rise to world number one status and a parallel battle with his swing as he attempted to introduce a draw into his game.
“To be honest with you, when I became number one, it was a surprise. I was not playing like the best player on the planet. I didn’t feel like the best player. And therefore, I needed to change a few things.
“Obviously I dropped down in the world rankings, but I didn’t care about that. It was about the feeling that you have. If other people see you as being number one, but you don’t see yourself as number one, how can you play like number one? That’s not possible. Therefore, I (have) become a better player now, yeah.
“I’m able to hit every shot I want. I was not able to do that when I came on tour in 2010, 2011. Now I don’t have any trouble with drawing the ball, fading the ball. That’s nice. You become more of a complete player.”
Playing with McIlroy over the first two rounds this week, as well as in the final two rounds at last week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Kaymer has seen McIlroy cope with the same kind of pressures he experienced a couple of years ago and the German has been impressed with the way the 24-year-old has been coping.
“The expectations. You just want to play golf; that is all you want to do. You get distracted a lot. You get distracted by all the people, the fans, the media. They expect so much all of a sudden, which is fine, and they can. You are currently the best player in the world. So that’s what we, what people want to see.
“But it’s not easy. It’s not easy to keep up those expectations; and therefore, I think Rory did brilliant. He’s still very young and he’s a good kid and I don’t see any problem.
“I think Rory, he did it very, very well the last couple of years. And the way he plays golf now... I played with him last week, I played with him the last two rounds. He plays different, different than a lot of other players. He is a great talent that we don’t even need to talk about. So I think he will do well.”
And so too, it seems, will Kaymer.
