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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 18, 2008

Martin Kaymer

TUCSON, ARIZONA

SCOTT CROCKETT: Thanks, as always, for coming in to join us, and welcome to your debut at the WGC events as a whole. Just talk about being here this weekend, looking forward to the week here.
MARTIN KAYMER: It's my first tournament in the U.S. as a professional. It's so different, actually, from Europe. But in a really positive way. There's so many good things.
The golf course, I played it today and I really like it. I was here actually the whole winter for practicing in Arizona and it feels a little bit like home. I think it will be a great experience.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Can you quite believe you're here? You've had quite a rise through Challenge Tour in Europe, European Tour and Rookie-of-the-Year and now here. It's been a rapid rise for you, hasn't it?
MARTIN KAYMER: It went really, really fast. But I don't know, I was working really, really hard the last years, and I don't know, I think I deserve it in one way. It was a big step from the European Tour, where it was always the goal to play on the European Tour. And now I have a chance to play on the U.S. Tour, in these type of tournaments, which is really awesome.

Q. How good were you as an amateur, or was it a case do you think of when you took a few years maybe on the Challenge Tour to really --
MARTIN KAYMER: Actually the plan was to play the third-level Tour in Germany, which is the EPD Tour. The plan was to play this Tour for a year to qualify for the Challenge Tour, then play the Challenge Tour for a year to qualify for the European Tour. But I did it in one year, which was really fast. But I decided to turn pro when I won my first tournament out of Germany. It was in Austria. It was the Austrian Amateur Championship.
And I decided then that I have a good chance to earn money with golf, because it was always fun for me to play golf, which is for me the most important. And then I noticed, after this tournament in Austria, then I noticed that maybe I have a good chance to play as a professional.

Q. So did you spend any time on the EPD Tour?
MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, I played 15 tournaments. And then I got an invitation for the Challenge Tour event in Germany. And I did very well in this event. And then I had the chance to play a few more and qualified for the European Tour.

Q. Easy game?
MARTIN KAYMER: Not easy, but I was lucky a little bit.

Q. What were the circumstances for how you came to practice in Arizona over the winter?
MARTIN KAYMER: I mean Germany is so cold, you don't want to be there. That's just how it is. And I went here last year already for a couple of weeks, because friends of mine, they have a house and I can stay there whenever I want, which is really good. And this year I went here with a Swedish player, he's on the European Tour, as well. That was actually the reason to come back, so I'm not alone again. Last year I was alone, and this year I was with a Swedish guy and we practiced a lot. The facilities over here are perfect, the weather. And I really like the -- I don't know, the American -- the attitude in sport. They are so supportive.
When I came here I got to the golf course and I said "I play on the European Tour; is there any chance I can practice here?" And they said, "Yes, of course you can." In Europe it's not usual, you can't do that. And they were really helpful and supporting. And that's why I came over here.

Q. Was that in the Phoenix area?
MARTIN KAYMER: That was in Scottsdale.

Q. Who was the Swedish player?
MARTIN KAYMER: Alex Noren. We played on the Challenge Tour two years ago -- yeah, two years ago.

Q. Which course do you play?
MARTIN KAYMER: I played a lot of times at Whisper Rock and Troon North. On Troon North I was living very close to Troon North, so that's why it was better to go there every day.

Q. That's a pretty good number of guys that play at Whisper Rock; isn't there a slew of TOUR people?
MARTIN KAYMER: I was lucky, I know Chris Hanell, he's a Swedish player, and I played a couple of times with him on the European Tour. He's a member there and he took me out a couple of times. So it was really good. The facilities over there and the conditions of the course, they are even better than on the European Tour but I think usual for the U.S. Tour. But it was just nice to practice there because it was unbelievable.

Q. Could you have imagined when you left Arizona after the winter that you'd be back here for this week?
MARTIN KAYMER: I noticed that I was close to the top 64; I think I was 76th. And my goal was to play well in Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Dubai, that I can play over here. I was never expecting that I could win Abu Dhabi. I knew that I hit the ball very well when I came back to Germany after these five weeks over here and I felt really good.
And that was actually the first week that I worked with a professional caddie. And he helped me a lot on the course, especially in the final round. There were actually only two really good weeks. In Qatar, I missed the cut there.

Q. I was going to ask you, too, what the odds were of when you left here that you'd be coming back in April for The Masters. And secondly, I can't imagine, you were probably just barely born when Bernhard won his first one?
MARTIN KAYMER: '84, it could be.

Q. You were born in '84?
MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, but I don't know what year he won.

Q. '85.
MARTIN KAYMER: Okay.

Q. Do you remember watching that?
MARTIN KAYMER: My father did, probably, but I don't.

Q. Can you talk about that, playing against him for the first time this year?
MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, I think this is a huge event, of course it is, which is really nice that I'm -- Fanny Sunesson, she's coaching me since -- I've known her a couple of years, and right now we call it like coaching. And she would prepare me to play this tournament, because I think it's huge that early in my career to play this kind of tournament. I was talking to her a little bit that we have to talk about different things, about Augusta, how is it, what is different. And I think she will prepare me very well for this event. But of course it's huge.

Q. When you won in Abu Dhabi you beat Henrik?
MARTIN KAYMER: That was good. The third round was really good. I had Justin, my caddie, with me and Fanny and Henrik, so it was a good draw. And I felt really calm the whole round. And, yeah, I don't know, there was almost the same feeling I had when I played with Ernie Els in Dubai. He was very relaxed. It felt almost like a practice round. I was like, oh, be careful, it's still a tournament. But it's good.

Q. What is Fanny's -- I thought she had taken some type of a role with German golf, did she not? Otherwise how did you come to work with her?
MARTIN KAYMER: I know her from -- yeah, you're right. She came -- she was coaching our national team a couple of years ago, I think three or four years ago. She came with us to Belgium, to the European individual championship or whatever. She was coaching us in course management, strategy, and I know her since that.

Q. How about your first match? It will be interesting with Mr. Weekley.
MARTIN KAYMER: I know him from China. I played with him in China at the World Cup, so I know him a little bit, but I think it will be good fun.

Q. Did you understand anything he said?
MARTIN KAYMER: A little bit.

Q. Did he call you sir?
MARTIN KAYMER: No, no. I think he's -- my first impression was he's a nice guy. Everybody asked me, did you understand him? I said a little bit, yeah.

Q. Who were your golfing heroes growing up? For all the sports accomplishments of Germany, golf hasn't really caught on there to the degree that it has in many of the other European countries, or at least it hasn't been producing a parade of Bernhard Langers.
MARTIN KAYMER: He did a lot for German golf and he was always the German hero. And he's still really, really good. He has so many wins. He played in the Ryder Cup a couple of times. He was the captain. But my role model actually always was Ernie Els, because I love his swing. The rhythm is unbelievable. Him as a person, he's so relaxed and so calm.

Q. We've talked about this World Golf Championship and The Masters. I'd be curious how your goals have changed or been reshaped since your swing through the Middle East there.
MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, I mean it sounds a little bit strange, but my first goal was to keep the card for next year. That was actually the goal. And to play Valderrama again, which is a really nice tournament at the end of the season. But now the goal is to win more tournaments, because now I know I can win tournaments. Yeah, I think this is the goal for this year, to win more tournaments, to get closer and closer.

Q. Where does the Ryder Cup fit on that list?
MARTIN KAYMER: Of course, a lot of people are talking about the Ryder Cup, but I'm not actually -- I'm not expecting to play. I mean it was never on my list when I started the season. Of course it would be nice, but right now I'm not expecting to play.

Q. Have you spoken with Faldo at all?
MARTIN KAYMER: No.

Q. Do you expect to?
MARTIN KAYMER: It would be nice if I could meet him, of course. But I never talked to him. I never met him.

Q. Do you even realize where you are in the Ryder Cup points right now?
MARTIN KAYMER: I don't know. I have no idea. I've never looked it up. I'm just interested -- right now I'm just interested in the World Ranking. This is very important for me so I can play all the big tournaments. I think this is always good if you can play these kind of tournaments for the experience. So this is very important for me.
SCOTT CROCKETT: At the moment you're 5th in the automatic 10.
MARTIN KAYMER: I just heard about two different rankings, the World Ranking or European Tour rankings. I said, okay, I don't want to know that, that's okay.

Q. When did you exactly turn pro? How long has it been in terms of years, months and days?
MARTIN KAYMER: It was at qualifying school in Europe in San Roque, November of 2005.

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