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DUBAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY DP WORLDNovember 23, 2010Martin KaymerDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES MICHAEL GIBBONS: Many thanks for joining us here at the Dubai World Championship. Obviously a very big week ahead for you. Just give us your thoughts going into it. How is the form and fitness and all of that. MARTIN KAYMER: It was a long season. I can feel that. But that's why I took last week off. Didn't play any tournament last week. Just went home, tried to enjoy some time at home, tried to get some energy for this week. It's probably the biggest week of my career so far. To have a chance to win The Race to Dubai, to become the best player in Europe. Yeah, preparation last week was just to relax. I just played golf once. Just hit a few balls for two hours, and that's it pretty much. MICHAEL GIBBONS: And you played today the Pro-Am. How is the golf course shaping up? MARTIN KAYMER: Golf course is very similar to last year. I think there's no change. So I think it's good for me, I know the golf course well. I've been here last year. I've played six rounds last year. I will play another nine holes tomorrow on the back nine, and I think I should be prepared. Q. What would it mean to win this, the whole thing, the whole shooting match? MARTIN KAYMER: Well, when I turned pro, I had three goals in my career, and what I said earlier already, to win a major, to play and win The Ryder Cup, and to become the No. 1 in Europe. So two-thirds are done, and hopefully this week I can win The Race to Dubai and become the No. 1 in Europe. So then I have done everything in one year; it would be fantastic. Q. Retirement beckons? MARTIN KAYMER: No retirement. But I'll have to set new goals. Q. So you would rather be European No. 1 on Sunday night rather than world No. 1? MARTIN KAYMER: I think if I win here, it will take care of itself. Q. You don't need to win to become world No. 1. MARTIN KAYMER: I don't need to win, too, but that's my goal. I cannot rely on Graeme playing bad. I mean, he's playing great golf the last few weeks, and if I play well this week, if I try to win the tournament, then I will win The Race to Dubai automatically. And I think -- I don't even know if I will be No. 1 in the world then, probably, but you know better than me. Q. Depends on Lee. MARTIN KAYMER: Depends on Lee. Q. Did you think you had The Race to Dubai pretty much won a month ago, and therefore, would you be disappointed that it's still in the balance going into the final tournament of the year? MARTIN KAYMER: Well, I mean, I thought I have a very good chance. The other guys has to play fantastic and Graeme, he played fantastic. He won in Valderrama. He finished I think third in Singapore, which was a huge event. Last week he played well. Of course, I was thinking that I will go into The Race to Dubai with a big lead, but I was not expecting that the lead is only, I don't know, a couple thousand -- a couple hundred thousand pounds. But it's more interesting now. Of course, I wish it would be different. But I think it's good for the Tour and good for European golf, for the spectators, for the event in Dubai. So, it will be fun. Q. Do you relish the fact that you'll be playing alongside Graeme here together, and how do you think you two will interact on the golf course? MARTIN KAYMER: You know, he plays his game. I play my game. I think it will be no different than any other tournament. So it shouldn't be different. How we will feel or how I will feel on Thursday, I can't tell. I don't know. But I will try to approach it as any other tournament. Q. Are you still the 'Man of Steel?' Or what I mean to ask is do you still have the steel plates in your legs and because you said that you planned to remove it around September, that was way back in January during the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, has that changed? MARTIN KAYMER: I don't terminate anymore, no. I took out the plates the week after the Masters -- yeah, after the Masters. So I only have one pin left in my foot, but that's it. Q. Martin, you've relished desert golf, you obviously live and play in an area in Scottsdale and you've won over here before. Are you pleased that the final event is actually in this part of the world? MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, I fancy it. I always play well here. I won twice in Abu Dhabi. I've played always well in the Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Course. Last year I have been very successful here. I think I finished Top-30 or something or 35. But this week, I mean, I have different motivation this week than last year. Last year I knew that I had to win to have a chance to win the Order of Merit. Even if I would have won, I think if Lee would have finished second or if Rory would have finished second, I would have still not won. This week is a little bit different motivation, and I'm more -- I'm not as tired as last year, but probably because of that fact that I can win this week. And you know, I think if you have a goal, like those high goals that I had, or I have for winning The Race to Dubai, I think there's no time, or you shouldn't be tired. Even though I am tired, yes, but I think when I play on Thursday morning, I will be ready to go until Sunday afternoon. Q. You sort of partly answered this question, but do you feel as though there's more pressure on you to sort of stay in front and win The Race to Dubai title or is there more pressure perhaps on Graeme to go past you? MARTIN KAYMER: Yes, I feel a little bit more pressure than normal tournaments. But I think Graeme, yes, he feels a little bit more pressure, as well. It's tough to say who feels -- who is more under pressure. Obviously I'm leading, so I think there's always a little bit more pressure on the leading person, because everybody is expecting me to win, The Race to Dubai. But I just try to see it as a normal tournament. It is not a normal tournament but I will try to approach it as one and try to play as good as I can. I've played good golf -- I've played fantastic golf since the PGA. So I just have to -- I think I just have to be patient, wait for my chances and don't look at other scores or don't look at Graeme's scores. I can just take care of my own game and that is I think very important for me the next four days. Q. I wonder how Germany is responding to your elevation and pursuit of The Race to Dubai; just had a world champion racing driver in Sebastian, and there's an upswing in sport. How are they looking after you in Germany and is this creating a lot of interest? MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, after Michael Schumacher, I think it was pretty much clear that he is the best driver in the Formula I. He was a little bit unlucky the race before, but of course I'm happy him and it's fantastic for German sports, or sport in Germany. And the support and the attention that I got after the PGA was great. You know, I just really enjoy that golf is becoming more popular in Germany. People on the street recognise me. I get invited to more shows, TV shows, which is great to see golf becoming bigger, especially going into like The Ryder Cup 2018, Germany is trying to get it, with Olympia. I think it's fantastic. Q. When you say you went "home" last week, do you refer to Scottsdale as home or Germany as home? MARTIN KAYMER: Germany as home. Q. And what do you do to switch off from golf? MARTIN KAYMER: I try to sleep, sleep as long as possible. I did not think that I would ever sleep for that long. I think I slept for four days, 12 hours, 12 hours every day. And I just tried to spend some time with my friends and I did some other sports, as well. I can feel still my forearm from -- I was climbing on Thursday; played badminton on Saturday. Q. Climbing? MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, climbing, like the walls. Like you're kind of like with a rope. So, yes, that kind of stuff to get me away from golf a little bit. The last few weeks has been very, very difficult after the PGA pretty much. I did a lot of stuff off the golf course, as well, and I played a lot of tournaments because of The Race to Dubai. Q. A few weeks ago you seemed to feel that perhaps you were not ready to be world No. 1. Are you ready for this, and did you perhaps see it as a necessary steppingstone, being European No. 1 before becoming world No. 1? MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, kind of, if you go step-by-step. Of course it would be nice to be the No. 1 in the world but my goal was to win The Race to Dubai and become the No. 1 in world. Lee did the same, he won The Race to Dubai last year and then became No. 1 in the world, would be fine with me, too. Q. I don't know if you made your decision on the PGA Tour thing yet. Just wonder if you can tell us what sort of things you're thinking about, what goes into the process of making decision and I wonder if anybody from the PGA Tour has been in touch with you? MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, I made my decision. I did it. Last week I sat down with my manager, my family and we had a look at the he schedule, and just schedule-wise, it doesn't really fit both tours for me next year. So I will stick to The European Tour. I will play probably two or three more events in America. But mainly I will play in Europe. Q. You're not joining the PGA Tour? MARTIN KAYMER: I'm not joining the PGA Tour. Q. You haven't had a crying phone call from Tim Finchem? MARTIN KAYMER: Not yet. Maybe I'll get one on Monday. Q. What do you think your first event will be? MARTIN KAYMER: The first tournament will be the Match Play in Arizona and then I will play probably a couple in like the Florida Swing, play a couple there, maybe Bay Hill or Transition, and then Doral obviously and then we will see what else comes up. Q. Going back to Sebastian, I wonder, have you met him and whether you see any parallels or similarities in personality? MARTIN KAYMER: I think the parallel thing is he was with BMW before, which is very -- we talked about it yesterday; it was unlucky that they gave him away to Red Bull. I think he was successful very fast, as well. The success, or he's successful since, let's say, two or three years; that's very similar to me. The last couple of years has been great for me, too. It's just what I said, it's just nice for Germany. Q. Have you met him? MARTIN KAYMER: No, I haven't met him yet. Q. Does Germany have a sort of Sportsman of the Year contest? MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, I heard that I was nominated for it, and I think I had a fairly good chance, but now with him winning the World Championship -- but it's fair enough. The best should win. Formula I is bigger than golf in Germany, which is fair enough. His performance this year was great. So I think it's great. You know, after Michael Schumacher, I think he really deserves it. And we'll see what happens this week. Maybe I can still battle him a little bit (smiling). Q. At The Open Championship at St. Andrews, of all of the players, I was following you on the final nine holes. And you played great, the last five holes, I think you made four bogeys and I've never seen you be so upset when you came out of the golf course. Was that kind of a turning point for the season, because of that, you really started playing fantastic golf. MARTIN KAYMER: I was just very disappointed about myself. It was very frustrating after that Sunday going into the last nine holes, I knew I have no chance to win, because Louis was just too far away. But I had a very realistic chance to finish second. I was just too tired in the en. I couldn't handle it anymore. I played five tournaments in a row with the U.S. Open. I finished Top-10 there, so it was very difficult for me in the end. And Munich is always a busy week. France, I played well in France, I was in contention there. I have to say, luckily I missed the cut in Loch Lomond; otherwise I would have been probably totally done at the British Open. Being in a major, or playing in a major, like in the heat on Sunday, having a chance to finish well in the Majors, takes a lot of energy. And after -- I played four weeks in a row before that; I was just mentally tired. And that was very frustrating to accept. I had a good chance to play well, and I screwed it up in the end with four bogeys. It was not the kind of golf that I usually play. So it was a little bit disappointing. Q. Did it change your thinking a bit going into tournaments? MARTIN KAYMER: It didn't change anything. I knew that I played good golf. The only thing that has changed, I've become a little bit -- or I told myself I have to become more patient. I just have to wait. It will come. The success will come. I just have to wait for the chances, because the only thing you can do is to play good golf, and if it happens, it happens. And if it doesn't, then it doesn't, or it shouldn't happen. But it will happen one day and then it happened at the PGA. Q. Did The European Tour raising its minimum number of tournaments make a difference in your PGA Tour decision; was it that close? MARTIN KAYMER: No, no difference. I consider European Tour as my home. That is where I feel comfortable. I think you play against the best players in the world, with the No. 1 in the world, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, you have all of the great players here. I feel very comfortable in Europe, and schedule-wise, it doesn't fit for me next year to play on the PGA Tour. So that's why I decided to play here. Q. A year ago you played on a brand new course here. You've played on it this morning. Has it changed in any way, and if so, for the better or worse? And do you expect it will be -- MARTIN KAYMER: Doesn't change at all. It's the same golf course. No additional bunkers. They haven't changed the greens. No. Q. Do you expect it to play tougher than last year? Slightly longer rough than there was. MARTIN KAYMER: Last year I was surprised seeing the winning score was 20-something-under par. I was not expecting that. So I mean, if you ask me about the winning score this year, it's tough to say, but I think 16-, 17-under should be enough. Lee was running away last year a little bit. Q. Just thinking in terms of becoming world No. 1, do you think we've seen the best of Tiger Woods? MARTIN KAYMER: We have seen what? Q. The best of Tiger Woods. MARTIN KAYMER: You mean this year? Q. No, do you think he'll get back to where he was? MARTIN KAYMER: I think he will play better golf. When he has sorted out everything and he gets back to normal, and I think if people leave him alone a little bit, then I think he will play great golf again. And that is what we hope. We hope that -- he is the best player in the world. He will be in I think every people's mind, he will be the best player ever, which is true. I agree with that. And I just look forward to that challenge. You know, it's just nice to play against the best player in the world, in his top form, and then you can match yourself and see how you have to improve or how close you can get or maybe you get lucky one day and you win. Q. If Tiger gets back to the levels of, say, two or three years ago, do you feel you now have the game to match his game? MARTIN KAYMER: No. I don't think so. I mean, the shots that he did in the tournaments the way he won the tournaments was -- I think no one really can beat that. He's just an exceptional athlete. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Martin, thanks for joining us. Good luck this week. End of FastScripts |
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