Martin Kaymer believes he is ready to win more Major Championships and feels The Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes could be the perfect stage for him.
The German admits global success perhaps came sooner than expected for him when he triumphed in the 2010 US PGA Championship, before going on to reach the World Number One spot last year.
But the 28 year old, who finished tied seventh and tied 12th in the last two Open Championships, feels his experience over the past two seasons means he would be fully prepared should further Major glory come his way over the Lancashire links.
“It’s difficult to get more motivation if you achieve something so huge, so quickly in your career,” said the Ryder Cup player.
“When you start your career you hope and wonder if you will ever do it, if you will ever be in that position, and then all of a sudden you raise the trophy and it is everything you have worked for.
“Everything happened a little early for me, but now it has settled down and deep inside I know I can win any tournament. The first few months after winning a Major you think that way, but you need to be in contention more and keep that belief.
Now a couple of years have passed, I look back and think it was great that it happened to me but I have many more years to win a second and third, and hopefully I will do that.”
Kaymer might not be familiar with this year’s host venue, Royal Lytham & St Annes, but received wisdom suggests it will be an Open course to his liking.
“I’ve never been to Lytham but I have heard it is a very good golf course and friends have told me it will suit my game.
“The Open is always my favourite tournament that we play, because it is about fighting and grinding it out. It’s not so much about how it looks, but it is about getting it done. That’s what I love about The Open. It’s about touch, and feel. The whole thing makes it so exciting. You need a bit of luck, with the bounces here and there, and with the weather, but it is a brilliant tournament and has so much history.
“When I turned pro and had my first two or three years on Tour, I thought my game suited the courses in great Britain and I thought if I was ever going to win a Major it would be The Open, but then I won the US PGA and thought, oh, OK, maybe not.
“I still feel like I have a good game for it though and maybe another time it will happen. The fans at The Open always make it so special and the tournament it is. They are so classy and have so much knowledge about golf, which makes it fun for us as players, because they know if it is a good or bad shot. Even if it is 15 or 20ft away it can still be a good golf shot and they know this, so it is great for us.”
Should Kaymer lift the Claret Jug he would become the first German to win The Open Championship, ending a long wait for his nation since Bernhard Langer came so close, finishing runner up to Bill Rogers in 1981 and to Seve Ballesteros in 1984.
“We have two Majors now – the Masters from Bernhard and the US PGA from me,” he said. “It would be nice to fill up the set with the other two, and I wouldn’t mind being the man to do that.
“The Open would be a great one to win, and then maybe the US Open one day too. To have a third Major in German hands would be a big achievement and it would be very special to be an Open Champion.”
