Martin Kaymer: I Cracked Under Pressure of Becoming World No. 1

Former world number one Martin Kaymer, who looked so promising at the end of the 2010 season, admitted in an interview that his game fell apart after becoming number one due to his rise in popularity in Germany.

He admitted that he attempted to re-model his swing during that stretch, but that it was the pressure, not the swing change, that kept him from winning again.

"It's true that I wanted to make some changes so I could play better at the Masters," Kaymer said.

"To become number one in the world, if you are an American player, an English player, Spanish, it's probably a little easier than being a German. We only had Bernhard Langer, who was one of the best players in the world.

 "He was the first number one in the world, so when I became number one it became big in Germany again. There were a lot of requests from people 'do this, do that.' I got invited to a lot of events—some you want to do, some you don't. It's all a bit overwhelming.

 "After a few months you realise why you became number one. It was because of what you did on a driving range, not in a studio. But it was a learning process. If I become number one again then I know how to approach it."

Kaymer insists he doesn't regret tweaking his swing.

"I'm 26 and I want to improve. I didn't want to be playing for the next 25 years with the same swing," he said. "You don't go forward in your career if you just stay the same."