PGA Championship: Martin Kaymer Gets Early Major

Kathy Bissell

The final round of the PGA was enough to give even seasoned journalists heartburn. Favorites fell, contenders rose, the unexpected happened.

Sunday was leaderboard whiplash of the first order. Lead changes happened at the speed of backspin. And then there was the bunkergate controversy over an area of land on the 18^th hole.  It ended in a playoff between two of the six who were in contention on the back nine. Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer.

The others who nearly made it to -11  were Zach Johnson, Steve Elkington, Rory McIlroy and the ill-fated Dustin Johnson.  They were all tied for or close to the lead several times on the final nine holes.

Martin Kaymer was leading or tied for the lead after four holes.  He was unflappable until he missed a five-footer for par at the 15^th, failed to birdie the par five 16^th and then short-shotted his second at the 18^th.  However, he followed with a miraculous flop shot to about 20 feet and rolled in a super-clutch putt to finish at -11, ahead of the final group which included Dustin Johnson.

Kaymer, from Germany, had gone unnoticed most of the week.  He took a page out of the Bernhard Langer playbook and produced rock solid golf except for the misstep at the 15^th.  At age 25, Kaymer now becomes a contender in all majors. 

Bubba Watson who struggled in Saturday’s round, righted the ship on Sunday and was the first player in at -11.

“It was a weird day today, obviously, with the finish that you saw,” Watson said.”You know, I wasn't on anybody's radar. Nobody in this media center thought I had a chance this morning. Nobody talked about me probably this morning.

Kaymer was next in the clubhouse. 

“I knew that I was always leading tournament after the sixth hole,” Kaymer said.  “I was just trying to avoid big numbers or stupid mistakes. I always wanted to give myself chances for birdie and the worst I do is par. That was my goal.” 

He tried to avoid leaderboards after then.

The two then waited for the Johnson situation to be sorted out.

Regarding the ruling, Watson said, “It's very heartbreaking to hear about Dustin Johnson, that's upsetting. The guy's played great golf and he just made a mistake. I feel for him. That's very disheartening.”

“I was a little bit shocked about Dustin Johnson,” Kamyer said. “Can you imagine if he would have made that putt on 18, he would have thought he won the golf tournament, and then all of a sudden he finished -- I don't know what he would have finished then.”

In the three-hole, cumulative score playoff Bubba Watson’s length seemed an advantage, and it proved to be at the 10th, which  was the first playoff hole, which he birdied.  Kaymer then birdied the second playoff hole while Watson parred.  They were tied going into the 18th.

Watson’s second shot, hit from the right rough, found the water hazard left and short of the green. Kaymer, seeing Watson’s situation, elected to lay up. Kaymer was then hitting three to the green while Watson was hitting four, after dropping out.  Despite hitting the pin with his fifth shot, the result was apparent.  Watson putted out to give the stage to Kaymer.

After the playoff victory Kaymer cited Bernhard Langer’s accomplishments as inspiring to him.

“He was always one of my heros, for sure,” Kaymer said. But he has a different role model.  Ernie Els. “I just love that guy, how the guy swings the golf club.”

He hopes that winning the PGA will have a positive impact on golf in Germany.

Look for some second guessing of the decision by the rules officials and the tournament committee in the days ahead.  Next time the tournament comes to Whistling Straits, one would hope for better definition of areas that are trampled by the gallery to the point that they are not recognizable. There were many areas of the course that did not resemble bunkers but where walking had transformed them to unrecognizable messes of grass and earth – whether that earth was sand or dirt – up for question.

While some were unhappy that neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson were in the mix, it was an exciting PGA Championship even without them in contention.

Special note:  one person on our shuttle bus out of the golf tournament left with a sample of the sand with him. Watch for it on ebay.