It was a four-and-a-half drive for Martin Kaymer as he returns to one of his favourite courses at Le Golf National and host venue this week for the Alstom Open de France.
Having finished seventh here as a rookie in 2007 – only the second top ten finish on The European Tour of Kaymer’s career – the 30 year old’s record since reads 79-1-6-4-70-13-12.
Victory in 2009 came in a play-off against Lee Westwood, and Kaymer feels that the 2018 Ryder Cup host course represents one of the outstanding European Tour venues.
“The golf course looks good to me,” said the two-time Major Champion. “It will be an exciting week I think.
“I know that I like that golf course; I know that I have been successful here before; I know I enjoy being in France. I enjoy the people, enjoy the food, so there is nothing wrong about this place. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t play well.
Martin Kaymer takes the four-and-a-half drive from Dusseldorf to one of his favourite venues and the National course in Versailles. (Photo – David Lloyd/www.golffile.ie)
“For me, it’s very easy to reach from home. I can drive. And again, it’s a good golf course that I enjoy to play because it’s very challenging.
“On the other hand, if you try to have expectations, I think you only put yourself under pressure for very unnecessary reasons. So I just try to enjoy the week for what it is, because it would be a shame if you don’t.
“Some tournaments, you need to create stories in order to make it interesting; here you have it all really.”
Last year a five under par total proved enough for Graeme McDowell to successfully defend his title, but Kaymer anticipates more favourable scoring conditions this time round.
“In the past, it was always the key that you hit many fairways because the rough was very thick and some of the par fours, when you miss the fairway, you couldn’t get to the green or there was some water in play,” he added.
“This year it might play a little bit easier because there’s less rough on the course. So this year, I don’t know what the key is going to be.
“I hope a couple of French players will break through and play well. It always helps the tournament if some locals play well.
“Obviously it was nice back in the day when Thomas Levet won here. I think it’s time for Alex Levy, as well, the way he plays golf. The way he has played recently, I think it would be a great win for him in his home country.”
“I’m very happy to be back; it’s a fantastic course,” said the former World Number One.
“I’ve come close here in the past. It’s been given The Ryder Cup in a few years’ time, as well, so that shows how strong a golf course it is.
“You have to hit a lot of good shots. You have to keep the ball in play, very straight: it’s all about hitting fairways and hitting greens around this golf course.
“You’ve got to drive the ball well, so you give yourself chances to attack the pins and have good distance control on your iron shots from the fairway, because it’s tough to play this golf course.”
