Martin Kaymer plundered Pinehurst for a second Major Championship success in capturing the U.S. Open.
For four days of the year’s second Major Kaymer was untouchable setting a 36-hole tournament scoring record and then over the four days never letting one of his rivals get within four shots of the 29-year old.
It is the German’s second Major victory and coming four years after he won the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
“You want to win majors in your career, but if you can win one more, it means so much more,” said Kaymer after posting a final round 69 for an eight-shot victory over the American duo of Rickie Fowler and Erik Compton.
Martin Kaymer reacts to capturing the 2014 U.S. Open. (Photo – www.usopen.com)
“Some people, especially when I went through that low, called me a one-hit wonder and those things. So it’s quite nice proof, even though I don’t feel like I need to prove a lot to people. But somehow, it’s quite satisfying to have two under your belt.”
Kaymer returned to the elite in golf by turning the toughest test in golf into a runaway at Pinehurst No. 2, becoming only the seventh player to go wire-to-wire in the 114 years of the US Open.
And just three players finished the championship under par.
“No one was catching Kaymer this week and everyone was playing for second,” said Compton.
“Martin was playing his own tournament,” Fowler said after recovering from a double bogey on the fourth hole to close with a 72.
No one had ever opened 65-65 in the US Open, which broke the 36-hole record that Rory McIlroy set three years ago rain-softened Congressional. When it could have gotten away from Kaymer in the third round, he stayed strong for a stabilizing 72.
“He kind of killed the event in the first two days,” said Swede Henrik Stenson. “He went out and shot two 65s and left everyone in the dust.”
And Kaymer put aside a clearly bias American crowd to win at the game’s highest level.
“It was probably the toughest day that I played golf today, especially the first nine,” he admitted.
“Because if you have two or three Americans chasing you, playing in America, it’s never easy being a foreigner. But I said at the ceremony as well that the fans were very fair. But it was a tough one. If you lead by five shots, it’s not easy.
Kaymer now joins Seve Ballesteros, Ernie Els, Tiger Woods and McIlroy as the only players to win two majors and be No. 1 in the world before turning 30 since the world ranking began in 1986.
The Dusseldorf-born Kaymer as well is the fourth European in the last five years to win the US Open, after Europeans had gone 40 years without this title.
Among those who congratulated Kaymer on the 18th green was Sandra Gal, a German player on the LPGA Tour. The US Women’s Open takes over Pinehurst No. 2 on Monday.
