Martin Kaymer believes he can overcome his 30-hour journey from Augusta to Kuala Lumpur and win the Maybank Malaysian Open.
The 27 year old German finished 44th in last week’s Masters Tournament – the first time he has made the cut – before flying from Georgia to Malaysia via New York and Dubai with Spain’s Alvaro Quiros.
Now the former US PGA Championship winner wants to ensure the trip was worth it by putting on a good display at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club.
“The most important thing is that I come to tournaments that I feel like I have a chance to win,” he said. “I’ve prepared very well in the last few weeks to put myself in a good position on Sunday afternoon.
“Schedule wise, I will be playing more in blocks so I can have two or three weeks off. So it really suited my schedule to play in the Masters and in Malaysia and later take three weeks off.
“Obviously coming from the Masters, the golf course looks a bit easier. You can be very aggressive - it will be very difficult to hit the fairways because the drive zones are very small, maybe 10 or 15 yards. It is even tighter than some US Open golf courses that I’ve played on in the past. The greens are rolling fantastic even though it is a bit slow, but that’s fine. Compared to last year, I would say the golf course is almost the same.
“It is better to hit the fairways and have a couple more clubs into the greens.”
Kaymer’s last trip to Eastern Asia saw him claim his first World Golf Championships title at the HSBC Champions, and the World Number Seven hopes to find the greens easier to read than the lightning-fast ones at Augusta National.
“They are fantastic,” he added. “They are slow but it probably only feels slow to us because we came from really, really fast greens. But the most important aspect is that they are all pure and you can predict everything. If you read and hit them well, the ball will be in the hole. You have to adjust yourself to the speed.
“Overall I was disappointed with my result [at The Masters] because I played really good golf until I was on the green. After that I struggled a little bit. I think my average putts everyday was 34. That’s a lot. I’m happy with the way that I’m hitting the ball but obviously those greens are very difficult.”
