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THE BARCLAYS SCOTTISH OPEN

July 12, 2009

Martin Kaymer

LUSS, SCOTLAND

SCOTT CROCKETT: Martin, many, many congratulations, a fantastic performance and now you're The Barclays Scottish Open Champion. Just give us your initial thoughts on another fantastic victory, another fantastic week for you on The European Tour.
MARTIN KAYMER: Yes, you're right, my fourth win now. Last week was my third, now is my fourth, so everything is going really, really fast.
This week was very special, because I think if you win in the home of golf in Scotland, it's always something special, and I really enjoyed the last two days. It was amazing, the spectators, they were supporting us, it was unbelievable. It was pretty cool.
SCOTT CROCKETT: A lot of people struggle when they have won an event and all of the demands, but you seemed to almost feed off of your win in France last week.
MARTIN KAYMER: I struggled after my first two wins. I missed the cut in Qatar last year, when I won in Abu Dhabi, and then I missed the cut after I won in Munich. This week was different, I don't know why, but just my form I think. I'm playing so solid and not making any big mistakes at the moment and my short game is good which really helped me today which is a lot, and that's probably the reason.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Was the key around the greens?
MARTIN KAYMER: Especially when I didn't hit the ball really well. I missed a few greens but my short game was really good. There were a few really good up-and-downs, especially on No. 9 and 10; they were really important. No. 9 was a very, very difficult chip and I made the par there. That was important for me to stay up there.

Q. You are now going to Turnberry; what will your prospects be there, do you think?
MARTIN KAYMER: Well, I mean, everybody asks me about the third win in a row, but this is -- we are playing a major next week, and the field is going to be the best we have all year long.
But last week and this week was a good field already, but next week is going to be the best field that we have this year probably. So I'm really looking forward to next week. I think I've been there before, but my manager, he played there a couple of weeks ago and he said it's going to be really, really difficult, which is always good, if you play majors, they should be difficult.

Q. Could you expand on that one stretch there where you missed four, maybe five greens in a row. You talked about the saves on 9 and 10, but wanted to ask you about the shot on 12, having bogeyed the 11th.
MARTIN KAYMER: I made bogey on 11. I felt in the backswing that my backswing was so quick, I couldn't get it online; it was impossible.
No. 12, hit the first in the bunker left and made a great up-and-down there. From down there to make that par, it's really, really good. I really should get a bottle of whiskey for that. (Laughter).

Q. Because you played so poorly after your previous wins, did you give any thought to not playing this week?
MARTIN KAYMER: No, not at all. I think if you win a tournament, you are obviously in a really good form. So why should you take a week off? The most important is that you sleep and eat, and I slept a lot the last few days. This is pretty much the reason I could perform well this week I think.
SCOTT CROCKETT: And you've eaten a lot with the ribs. I heard the ribs are the key.
MARTIN KAYMER: Every night, I've eaten ribs.

Q. When is the last time you played a bad round, apart from Munich?
MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, I always played bad in the practice rounds. Honestly I didn't play very well. But the last really bad round, even Munich I played well. I just couldn't get the score. But really, I can't remember.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your experience about the game in Scotland before this week; did you play as an amateur, and how much were you aware of the importance of Scotland in the game's history?
MARTIN KAYMER: Well, I think I played the British Amateur, the British Boys in Carnoustie, 1999. That was my first time in Scotland. And it's very special to play here in Great Britain, because it's different golf.
But this golf course is more like what you see in Europe. You know, this is not a real links golf course. Probably that's why I really, really fancy this golf course. I'm not a huge fan of links golf courses, but it's always a good challenge.

Q. How did you celebrate last week? Will you celebrate this, or will you just have a night in with your ribs again?
MARTIN KAYMER: Last week, you really want to know how I celebrated last week? My father, he came over to France, and we were on the way back home to Germany and we celebrated on the Autobahn. We stopped at the gas station, had a beer: "Cheers, congratulations, let's go." That was our celebration. (Laughter). And for tonight, I don't really know. I've got to go to Turnberry soon and maybe if there's a par and some players to celebrate that, would be nice.

Q. When you went to Carnoustie in '99 for the British Boys, was that the first links course you played, and what were your impressions of it? What do you think of it?
MARTIN KAYMER: Carnoustie for me was made for the British Open. This is one of the British Open courses where I always wanted to play the British Open, St. Andrews and Carnoustie. These are the two courses for me I would love to play the British Open one day.

Q. Have you got anything arranged in terms of practise rounds for Turnberry in terms of who you are going to play with?
MARTIN KAYMER: No, not at all. I actually probably am going to play with a German guy, there's one German guy in the field, an amateur, he won the European Championships, the individual, a few months ago, so he qualified. So I'm probably going to play with him on Tuesday and Wednesday then.

Q. At The Ryder Cup last year, you were there in a watching capacity when Nick Faldo invited you along. Can you talk about how valuable that experience was now in your progression as a player?
MARTIN KAYMER: Well, I never really know what The Ryder Cup is all about. Now I know that the Ryder Cup is the biggest event that I can play as a golf professional, and I really want to play it one day. And that helped me a lot to see what's going on there.
I thought it's a tournament with a lot of spectators and good golf course and two teams against each other, but now I know that it's more about the spirit and honour to play for Europe. As a golf professional if you're a European or an American, it's probably the best or the biggest you can get.

Q. You said you won in Munich; obviously that was special as a German to win in Munich. And now you've won in the home of golf. Which one of the two is more special to you?
MARTIN KAYMER: Well, I'm in Scotland now.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Yes, think very carefully before you answer this question, Martin. (Laughter).
MARTIN KAYMER: The one in Germany, of course. For every golf, I think it's the ultimate to win in your own country. But nothing against this win here. But obviously last year in Munich was probably the best I could imagine last year.

Q. Also you have now in the last week won over a million pounds in prize money. Do you think of the money at the time or is that a case of just collecting as many titles as you can at the moment?
MARTIN KAYMER: I mean, money is nice, but it's not the most important. Of course, it's a very nice thing to have money, but I think if you are out there and play for money, then you are in the wrong job.

Q. How difficult was The Open last year considering everything going on at home, and just talk about your confidence going into it this year coming off the last two weeks.
MARTIN KAYMER: Last year I can remember when I was standing on the first tee Thursday morning, it was the worst weather you can imagine. It was so bad. But the golf course played still good.
So I see the majors, especially next week, as a really good challenge; that's probably the most difficult you can get in Europe next week. And it's just nice to accept that challenge and hopefully, yeah, I can shoot some low scores, but yeah, after last week and this week, I feel really good. My game is solid, so hopefully I can keep it up.

Q. As a follow-up to that, was your mind really on The Open last year, because of what had happened?
MARTIN KAYMER: That I was focused? I mean, last year, that was my first year where I played the majors. So first of all, my goal was to make the cut, and then play at the weekend.
This year looks obviously a little different. I missed the cut in Augusta and I missed the cut in the U.S. Open, so it's time to make a cut in the majors now.

Q. Why have you struggled so much in the majors so far; have you tried to define it?
MARTIN KAYMER: It's very, very difficult to explain. But Augusta, for example, is a very special golf course, and every golf shot has to be -- you have to think about every single golf shot there, every putt, every pitch, every tee shot.
I made a few mistakes. I missed a lot of short putts there, and if you miss short putts there, I mean, at the majors, everything has to come together to play well. And the U.S. Open, I think I was very, very unlucky with my tee time. I played Thursday morning, which was terrible weather. It's not very nice with the rain there. And I missed the cut by one shot, which I was not very happy about this.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Any more questions for our new champion? Martin, many, many congratulations and good luck next week.

End of FastScripts

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