Martin Kaymer’s route to victory at the Players’ Championship on Mother’s Day and the runaway US Open Championship win on Father’s Day at Pinehurst was carefully planned and executed with precision.
In February 2011 Kaymer became the No. 1 player in the world for 2 months. Then hitting a down turn in his career he worked on overhauling his fade-only swing he had honed as a youngster and learned to hit the ball both ways. Three years later, he entered the US Open ranked 28th.
“It shouldn’t sound cocky or arrogant, but I knew it would come,” said Kaymer. “I knew that I would play good golf again. I just didn’t think it would take me that much time to get back where I was. Actually not where I was, I think I play better golf now, I’m more of a complete player, it was just a matter of time.”
Kaymer’s Mental Game
At Pinehurst Kaymer said he had previously been thinking too much about making mistakes. His solution was to stop thinking.
Those who watched him warm up each day saw him on the practice range with a tennis ball hanging from a lanyard around his neck. Before each swing, he squeezed the ball between his forearms, feeling the pressure all the way to the top of his backswing. In this way he created a swing habit using his sense of feel instead of thinking.
About having the lead
“A lot of people think, ‘Well you have a little bit of a cushion,’ but if you approach that day with that attitude, it can be gone so quickly,” Kaymer said. “For me the challenge was to keep going, to stay aggressive, make birdies, go for some flags, and don’t hold back. It’s very difficult to do, because at some stage you get a little bit tight and your body tells you, you should take it easy. I overcame that feeling, I stayed aggressive, and I played very brave.”
Kaymer’s self-talk included, “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Keep going. It (the belief) has to come from inside, not only saying it. It has to be true,” he said. “I tried to focus on staying 10 under. I didn’t focus on the other players.”
“Patience is a very, very big thing,” Kaymer said.
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