Medinah miracle man Martin Kaymer is primed to end a twelve-month winless drought after forcing his way into a one-stroke lead with a round to play in the rich Nedbank Challenge in South Africa.

The German joins a host of his victorious Ryder Cup winning stars who have starred around the globe since the Ryder Cup and with take a one stroke lead into the final round of the dozen man event.

Kaymer has been picture of calm and consistencey around the difficult Gary Player course with rounds of 72, 69 and 70 that has handed him a ones stroke lead from very much in-form South African Louis Oosthuizen (69) on five under par.

Since the Ryder Cup we have seen European Team members Peter Hanson, Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy enjoy success while Graeme McDowell is heading after two rounds in the Tiger Woods hosted Chevron Challenge while vice-captain Miguel Angel Jimenez became the oldest-ever winner on the European Tour in capturing a third UBS Hong Kong Open title.

Martin Kaymer reaching out for a first victory this year. (Photo – www.nedbankgolfchallenge.com)

Kaymer has not won since capturing last year’s WGC – HSBC Champions title.

But then he holed the winning Ryder Cup putt that saw Europe turn around a four-point deficit and with Kaymer credited with holing the putt that ensured the Ryder Cup stayed in European hands.

“That was a huge thing that happened to me at the Ryder Cup that I will never forget in my life,” he said.

“It gave me a lot of belief that I can win any tournament, because there will not be more pressure than that. Hopefully that will help me with my round tomorrow and that I can shoot another low round.”

Much has been documented about the resurgence of Martin Kaymer in the latter half of 2012, and, although one always felt his return to form was inevitable, it came from a lot of hard work.

A “slump” is often a relative term, but in the case of Kaymer, the degree of his dip in form during 2012 is given context by the measure of his success in the years prior.The German turned pro in 2005, and cut his teeth on the Challenge Tour for two years after that. He joined the main tour on a full-time basis in 2007, and finished a very creditable 41st in the Race to Dubai standings that year.

Things were to get better and better for the man from Dusseldorf, as he finished eighth and third in the Race to Dubai for 2008 and 2009. His biggest year, however, was 2010, as he wrapped up the standings, represented Europe in their Ryder Cup win at Celtic Manor, clinched his first major title when he won the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits and reached number one in the world rankings.

If 2010 was a breakout year of success, 2011 was one of consolidation, as two European Tour victories guided him to a third place finish in the Race. By the end of that year, he’d amassed over €13 million in career prize money on the European Tour, and without question established himself as one of the stars of the game.

Things began to go south at the turn of the year though, as he struggled to gain recover the form of old. According to Kaymer, a swing change was responsible for this.

“My natural shape is a fade, but towards the end of last year I began to try and work on a draw to give me more options. I struggled with my game this year though, so I decided to go back to the fade. Since then it feels like things are coming right,” he told a press conference at the SA Open a fortnight ago.

Although he made over 80% of cuts on the European Tour this year, he couldn’t get himself into contention. In fact, until the BMW Italian Open in September, he had managed just three top-10 finishes and none in the top-six.

So alarming was Kaymer’s regression that he ended up having to scramble for the last place in Jose Maria Olazabal’s Ryder Cup team this year.

However, his game showed signs of improving in the weeks building up to the event.

So much so Kaymer immortalised himself in the golfing history books by holing the putt that ensured Europe would retain the cup.

The upward trend has continued ever since, with a tied-third finish at the SA Open yielding his third European Tour top-10 finish in succession.

As a result, he came into this week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge as one of the favourites and has justified the tag.

* Story – www.nedbankgolfchallenge.com

* Story – www.nedbankchallenge.com