Playing with Tiger Woods means Martin Kaymer still has fond memories of the 2012 US PGA Championship, despite missing the cut.
And as the tournament returns to Kiawah Island for the first time since Rory McIlroy stormed to an eight-shot victory, Kaymer is looking forward to contesting the year’s second major in a far better frame of mind than he did nine years ago.
Kaymer won the US PGA at Whistling Straits in 2010 and was world number one for eight weeks in 2011, but struggled to find top form for much of the following season and only just held on to the last automatic qualifying position for the Ryder Cup.
The German went on to play a starring role in the ‘Miracle at Medinah’, but beforehand it was a different story at Kiawah Island as he shot two rounds of 79 to miss the cut by eight shots.
“Last time I played there, when Rory won, I played with Tiger, which is always a treat,” Kaymer, 36, told the PA news agency. “I have good memories even though I missed the cut.
“I didn’t really play well. I was not really ready to play golf at that time. It was a strange year and then the Ryder Cup happened a few weeks later.
“My game was not good enough at that time, mentally I was not ready to play and then playing with Tiger you want to play well. It’s one of those things; I know he’s just another player you’re playing with, but playing with him makes you want to play better than I did.
“It will be interesting to go back and see the golf course with a completely different view now, with my experience over the last few years, being in better form again and wanting to play well and be ready.”
The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island will play to a maximum of 7,876 yards this week, thereby reclaiming its position as the longest course in major championship history.
It is a distinction Kiawah also held – at 7,676 yards – in 2012, with US Open venues Chambers Bay (2015) and Erin Hills (2017) then assuming the mantle at 7,695 and 7,741 respectively.
“Somehow courses get longer and longer but they don’t play that much more difficult,” added Kaymer, whose last victory came in the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst.
“We’ve become better at hitting the ball more solidly, finding the most comfortable way to play the golf course, so it’s just a number.
“Long doesn’t mean good and I hope it doesn’t get to that point where it’s all about distance.”
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 here