- Martin Kaymer won the US Open in 2014 and is keen to win it again this year
- He says he is surprised at his lack of success over the past decade, despite the odds
- The 39-year-old has yet to achieve a single top 10 since joining LIV Golf in 2022
At the age of 29, Martin Kaymer was a two-time Major winner and former world number 1.
Ten years later, the German returns to the scene of his runaway US Open victory at Pinehurst in 2014 without any accolades on his CV.
‘I’m surprised I didn’t win [any more titles]Kaymer said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities, but for different reasons I didn’t.”
One of those reasons was a wrist injury, but perhaps the biggest was a collapse in the final round of the Abu Dhabi Championship in 2015, when after three days six shots were clear, only to drop to third place.
“Mentally I’m ready to win again,” said Kaymer, who has yet to post a single top 10 since joining LIV Golf in 2022. ‘I don’t know if that will happen soon or if I might have to wait another year. but I won’t stop chasing that victory. There’s nothing holding me back now.’
Martin Kaymer won the US Open in 2014 but has not tasted any success in the past decade
The 39-year-old has yet to achieve a single top 10 since joining LIV Golf in 2022
Remarkably, Kaymer has yet to achieve a single top 10 since joining LIV Golf in 2022, a far cry from 2014, when he followed a wire-to-wire victory in the Players Championship with another at the U.S. Open.
Despite the lack of narrow fairways and thick rough typical of the US Open, Kaymer felt that Pinehurst’s firm conditions and crowned greens would still be a tough test, but he left the field trailing him with consecutive rounds of 65.
“I did an interview on Tuesday or Wednesday after my practice round and I said the winning score would probably be two or three over par,” Kaymer recalled.
‘I felt like a bit of an idiot when I was ten under after two rounds. Obviously it surprised me too, but the key to those two rounds was definitely how well I putted.”
