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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDEMay 31, 2019Martin KaymerDublin, Ohio MARK WILLIAMS: Thanks for joining us here at the Memorial Tournament. MARTIN KAYMER: The golf course was very playable with the softness. But I played well and didn't make many mistakes. I putted well over the last two days. And that got me into the position where I am in right now. So I really look forward to the next two days. And as you said, it's been a while for me, it's been five years pretty much since I was leading the U.S. Open in 2014. So it would be nice to get a little bit of reward for all the work I put in the last two or three years. MARK WILLIAMS: Were there some injuries involved over that period, or why has this form come into fruition, from the work you put in, what do you see is different from last year this time? MARTIN KAYMER: Playing-wise, not much different, just my attitude became a little bit different over the last two or three months, more relaxed, more calm on the golf course. I was trying to force it a little bit, the success. And obviously we all know in golf what happens. You try to pull back, but the frustration comes out because you work hard, everything is there, you just can't get the scores on the scorecard. You don't get the results. So you need to change something. And the change or the actual changes that you need to do is not to change. There's nothing to do. And I tried to do something. And I need to pull myself out. And that was a big thing for me. Q. You played here once, right, 10 years ago? What brought you back? What was the 10-year gap, and are you surprised only having played it once 10 years ago that you're in the position you're in? MARTIN KAYMER: Obviously the difference is the scheduling, first of all, because I really like playing in Europe. I like playing those events there. I felt like I gained the most motivation and I learned so much about my game playing in Europe. So scheduling, it was a huge thing. Now leading up to the U.S. Open, playing Colonial last week and the PGA before, scheduling-wise was perfect. And I saw Mr. Nicklaus a few times at The Bear's Club in Jupiter. He asked me if I would come this year and play, and I said yes, I plan on coming. And he was looking forward to having me. And very pleased that everything worked out this year. Q. You talk about being more calm, and you said the last two or three months or so. How do you work on that? Is that a mental thing? Do you have a coach to help you through that, or how did you work on being more calm? MARTIN KAYMER: Well, that's the question. That is the question, you know. Just getting away from so many things, social media, watching TV, reading stuff that is not important. What do you really gain from social media during tournament days? There's so much gossip, so much talk, so much distraction. And I just got out of that. I just didn't want to read that because there's nothing really to gain from it. And that was a big one for me; that the other day I was standing at Starbucks, I was in line, ten people in front of me, everybody was on their phone reading something, but they don't know what they're reading. It's just distraction, stimulation for your brain, just not thinking, not being there. And I tried to get away from that. And that automatically makes you more aware, makes me more conscious, and I think leads to more calmness, I guess. It helped me. Q. When you get in this position, is there a temptation to think back to 2014 and trying to end a victory drive or do you keep that in the back of your mind and focus on the task at hand? MARTIN KAYMER: Obviously it's very early to think that way, of course. But you're excited to be in position again. You worked quite hard over the last few years, and you want to feel that excitement of playing one of the last groups. And who knows what happens by Sunday afternoon, if I'm still up there or not. But I'm very pleased right now that I put myself -- that I put myself in that position, especially with that summer coming up, knowing and proving to myself that I have it in me right now; that I don't need to work on something special right now. I just need to play the game. And that is something that I'll really enjoy. So I don't really care the way it works out the next two days in terms of the result. I want to see the progress. If it leads to a win, fantastic. But I can't really focus on the result too much. I enjoy the position. I enjoy playing golf right now. Q. There might not be an answer for this, but how does a player of your class go through so many valleys like that? MARTIN KAYMER: It's the love for the game and the passion for the game. Obviously I don't play the game for money or fame, anything like that. We are fortunate enough that we've made enough of that over the last few years, thanks to Mr. Woods, also. So I just try to enjoy doing what I love to do on a daily base and trying to see where my maximum is, where is my optimum. We can never reach it, I know that. But there are glimpses of it once in a while, you think, wow, I'm that. And you forget that sometimes. Those moments are very special. We work on having more of those moments, and if they lead to good results, win, fantastic. But it's that feel that you're chasing. Q. But when you win something as big as you did, whether it's the PGA or the U.S. Open or even THE PLAYERS, to be that good, why do you think you go so long without winning, which you've done a couple of times now? MARTIN KAYMER: Yes, it's a distraction. I distract myself. I listen too much to other people. And also a bit of belief. Sometimes you would think I won so many big tournaments I should have so much belief in myself that I can win any week. But that's not the case because certain times you just feel like you're not on your "A" game. Sometimes it's still enough to win but at the moment or the last two years I was just not there. I just didn't believe that I could win the tournament that I'm playing. So I need to go through that progress of getting myself back up there. It's nothing to do with golf. It's just seeing the other guys, how well they played. You think, that is amazing; how can you play that well on the golf course? So I just didn't see it. And then you need to pull back and watch old videos of your own success, where you ask yourself, okay, how did you do that? For me it was amazing that I won on golf courses like Sawgrass and Pinehurst. It's not really my type of golf. But I did, and those were obviously one of my biggest wins in my career. So I just need to visualize the success more often that I had to really let it sink in. Because I'm not the guy who celebrates a lot, which I think is a little bit of a mistake. Because you don't know the value of the win, if you see everything the same. If you just move on and move on, you try to go from one tournament to another and you continue doing that, but you need to pull yourself out, maybe celebrate, however the celebration looks like. It doesn't need to be going to Vegas and get drunk, but you need to celebrate the win, the resolve, the effort. You need to give credit to yourself, and I never did. So whenever the next win will come, I know what to do different. Q. Are we invited? MARTIN KAYMER: You want to go to Vegas? (Laughter.) Q. Did you used to take -- the distraction issue, did you used to take down to the course with you? Have you done better with that during rounds, and is there a trigger when you start to feel you're on the course, something happens that you can kind of fight it off, or is it all in the prep? MARTIN KAYMER: No, it's just the lack of energy. Just the mental energy. You start let's say on Monday morning, when the tournament week starts. You maybe start with a hundred percent and then going through all those things that are not really important, maybe by Thursday you are already down to 60 percent. And then obviously tournament takes a lot out of you, so by Saturday I was done. So I didn't prepare myself until Sunday, I prepared myself for Thursday. So that doesn't get me far. So I need to cut that stuff out, you know? It's not necessary reading all those things. Q. Which highlight video of yours have you watched the most for inspiration? MARTIN KAYMER: I watched the Ryder Cup obviously quite a lot, 2012, the last three or four holes. But that's not really my effort only, you know, that is a team thing. And they put me in the position to have that -- to have that gift in my career, to receive that gift to be making something like that happen. But the U.S. Open was just -- I was just dominating the field. I fought against myself over the weekend. I just focused on myself, trying to beat myself every single day, and I did that very well. So I just try to visualize the tournament, watch it and try to get the feel back what I had, how did I feel. And also about swing thoughts. There was no swing thoughts. It was just playing. And that is what you're supposed to do. But we forget. It's so silly that we forget certain things. And then you start doubting yourself and you question and you ask other people, and then you're lost. Fortunately I've never felt lost. But I can see it in other players. They go through so many swing coaches, they even ask other players, and hopefully I never went there. But you need to realize where you're at, and that is where I was. And then you need to find a way back. And everybody needs to find their own way back. It's not one way that works for everybody. Q. How much of your return to the Tour now has been physical, emotional in the aspect of your game versus working on the technique of your game? MARTIN KAYMER: It's hard to put that in percentages. Everything -- we play a game that everything needs to be spot on in order to win one of the biggest tournaments in the world. So you cannot really focus on one thing. I focus on all things too much. So then I need to -- again, I need to get out of that because it has nothing to do with fixing something. There's nothing to fix. And then you look -- then you talk to the people in your inner circle, what they see, without saying problems, what they see the difficulties right now. And then you work on those because they watch you from outside. You're in it, you're too emotional, you're too attached to yourself. So you go with them because you have trust in them. They know you for so many years. And then you work on certain other things. And I focused a lot on my short game because short game teaches you also being creative and it's an art, and that is how I play golf. I'm a feel player. Through that short game I think I've found a way back to the way I play golf usually. Q. Who is your coach? Has that changed recently? MARTIN KAYMER: No, still the same, German guy, Gunter Kessler. Q. Has there been a stage in the last moment or year or two where you felt like, yes, you could win this week, even if you didn't? MARTIN KAYMER: No, last year in Germany was a bit of a surprise to me. I played well, but I didn't play great. And all of a sudden I had a chance to win the tournament. So I would have taken it, but it didn't work out. This week I just wanted to have a good week and work on the progress. I wanted to find the form that gives me the belief for the next three or four months that I can win a golf tournament. So can I win this week? Of course I can win this week. That's not the problem. Do I focus on that win? Not really. It's too big of a goal right now for me. You need to see where you're at. And I'm not like in a position where Brooks Koepka was two or three weeks ago. That is not where I'm at. So you need to be very realistic. And so I'm not really focusing on the result right now, which is very nice. It's not like I don't care, of course you care, but right now I try to focus on other things that are for me, personally, more important than just a quick result. Q. Speaking of Koepka and maybe DJ, do you see other guys who seem to -- maybe you could learn from them who seem to be able to turn it off, their minds, and just sort of play? Has it ever occurred to you, and do you watch other players who have been able to do that? MARTIN KAYMER: Well, obviously what you see, that is nothing you need to try to understand, because I get it, the way they play golf. Long drives, straight, putt well. I get it. So you win tournaments. The irons, they're manageable somehow. But it's more like they have -- obviously they have people around them. They have families. They have kids that gets them out of that sport which is very, very important. And this is something you can't work on finding a family, finding a wife and kids. So I think if you watch the best players in the world, they have a good balance, and that is -- I think long term is very important that you find a balance in your life because this is not only our life, but it can become your life only if you focus on that. And I was trying -- I was focusing so much on the golf and try to find happiness through good results in golf, but that doesn't work out. So you need to find other ways to find happiness. MARK WILLIAMS: We appreciate your time. Thanks for coming in. Hope we see you over the weekend. MARTIN KAYMER: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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