LIV GOLF INVITATIONAL SERIES: LONDON

June 10, 2022

Martin Kaymer

Centurion Club

Quick Quotes

Q. There's still silence from the DP World Tour, does that surprise you?

MARTIN KAYMER: Not so much. I think last time the PGA TOUR, they went first, too, and then The European Tour, the DP World Tour came second.

So I guess they just want to wait until the tournament's over until they have their own tournament finished in Sweden, and I guess latest Monday, Tuesday, we will hear something.

Q. You've had 24 hours now to speak to lawyers and advisors, as things stand with the field in Germany, you haven't heard anything otherwise?

MARTIN KAYMER: I haven't heard anything. I'm planning to play in Munich.

Q. What do you think are their options?

MARTIN KAYMER: It's not for me to say. I think at the end of the day we need to focus on the game of golf. It doesn't matter where you play.

In my opinion, it does help the sport. If some tours take it personal, that's their issue, I guess. I don't see why they should because we should focus on main and the big picture, and the game of golf that we promote. It doesn't matter where you play in the world, it's the greatest sport out there, I believe. There's no reason to continue to get upset, I guess.

Q. Does hurt you at all to see what's happened -- at the end of the day --

MARTIN KAYMER: You mean the DP World Tour?

Q. The game professionally is being torn apart, the divisive --

MARTIN KAYMER: I can you can see it in a negative point or you can see it in positive point. If you see it in a positive way, the game growing into a direction that we don't know yet, but I think that it has so much potential and there's nothing to be scared of. I think it's a great opportunity for the game to make it even more exciting. Doesn't mean that the old is gone, you just add the new. So I think media, that they can put it sometimes in a very negative way. Sometimes they can put it in a very positive way, I think if you see it neutral or focus on the stuff that you want to see with the game of golf, then I think it's a very positive thing what's happening here.

Q. Does your win at the U.S. Open seem like a long time ago now to you, given all that's occurred or do you look back on it as if it wasn't that long?

MARTIN KAYMER: No, it was. I mean, this is eight years ago, a lot has happened in eight years. My game has grown. Me as a person, I've developed. So I just look forward to enjoy the next ten, 12 years of my career, and that's the beauty about golf, you can still win majors. Yeah, Phil, he proved it, you know, even in his 50s. The most -- I guess the most important thing is to stay healthy and keep the passion up. If you can keep the passion up, then I think it's a good possibility to play golf for a long time.

Q. What do you think about Bryson joining LIV? He is obviously a big draw for a lot of people?

MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, I think the more the merrier. I think it's great obviously for the Tour and for us players that even better players are coming out here. I don't know how the field will look in Portland, but as I said, you know, if you can play against more players who are up there in the World Rankings, and it's also proof that this tour here and this tournament is going into the right direction. You know, they are staying in their frame, they are doing what they promised to do with the game of golf, and within a few weeks, that event so far has been great, especially in the time frame. If you look at it, they only had a few weeks, so from that point of view, it's been an amazing week so far.

Q. When you say the more the merrier, if 20, 30, 40 players who are higher in the World Ranking were to come along, do you think you would still have a place in this tour or thrown to the sharks --

MARTIN KAYMER: That's another way of looking at it in a negative way, I will always play the game of golf. I don't really -- if I can play the game of golf on the Asian Tour and the DP World Tour, PGA TOUR or LIV Golf Tour.

Q. If you can't play the PGA TOUR --

MARTIN KAYMER: I'm not a member anymore anyway. I decided not to play the PGA TOUR because I wanted to have a clear cut. I wanted to have it -- I wanted to be in an active position to decide for myself, this is what I did. If you see where I am at in my life, and in the World Ranking, it just made sense to me.

So what the DP World Tour is going to do, we will see next week. Until then....