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ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPJanuary 19, 2011Martin KaymerABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES SCOTT CROCKETT: Thanks, as always for coming in and joining us and welcome back to Abu Dhabi. Everyone looks forward to this event but perhaps no one more than you, your first win and the start of a great year four last year. Just talk about being back here to defend the title. MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, Paul and me, we are looking forward every year to come back here. SCOTT CROCKETT: Might be his turn now the way things are going. MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, I think he won '07, me '08, he '09 and I won last year. SCOTT CROCKETT: You have a great record. MARTIN KAYMER: It's a fantastic tournament. I was thinking to go to Hawai'i first week of January to get preparation for this event but I figured it worked out the last three years that this was my first tournament back on Tour. So I took a couple more weeks off to prepare for Abu Dhabi. I was in America for the last four, five, six weeks straight after The Race to Dubai, yeah, to get ready for this event. The last three years worked out fantastic for me. They changed the golf course a little bit, but I saw yesterday and on Monday, but yeah, a good start and hopefully it will work out the same way it worked out the last three years. SCOTT CROCKETT: We spoke to Lee, world No. 1, a great end to last year, and obviously a great end for you being European No. 1. The whole year was a great success for you last year. MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, that was enough for me, No. 1 in Europe. That was huge. What I said after The Race to Dubai, all of the things that I achieved last year has been very impressive. That was kind of like the goals that I had for my career and I did everything in one year which was great. Obviously we have a new year now, 2011, new goals to defend my title here and to play the Majors even better than I did last year. So there's a lot happening this year, and I see 2011 kind of like a little bit as a year of practising, of improving myself in order to play well the next two, three, four years. And it doesn't mean that I will play less tournaments or something. Just my focus is a little bit more on practicing and a little bit more on improving things. Q. You said just now that you see 2011 as a year when you want to try to play the Majors better than last year. That's a tall order, isn't it, if you've won one already, to improve on that is asking a lot? MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, I think I meant the Masters (smiling). The last three times I've played the Masters, I never made the cut. I work on it with my coach a little bit in order to get the draw to play and be a little more consistent with that shot. That's pretty much my goal, to play the Masters well, or to at least make the cut and have a chance to finish in the Top-10, that would be nice. I was pretty happy about the U.S. Open, about the British Open and of course the PGA, how it worked out last year. It's just nice to motivate yourself and to prepare for those huge events, and the preparation for the Masters will look a little bit different than last year. I'm not playing the week before. So I will try a few things out this year in order to play better in the big events. This year, the last three years, I always prepare the same way, and it never worked out for the Masters, so this year I will try it out. Q. What is it about Augusta, why haven't you been so successful? Is it the course? MARTIN KAYMER: Well, we don't have to talk about the golf course; it's probably the best in the world. My short game was never sharp enough going into the Masters, and I was not really able to hit the draw. I really struggle to play the golf course how it's supposed to be played. You need to hit the draw at some holes, and a lot of holes doesn't really suit my eye when I'm standing on the tee because I was not able to hit the draw, or I struggled to hit the draw. When you play such an important tournament, you really don't want to try things out, and especially not on a golf course like that. Q. I was going to ask you in the short time you had off, was there a moment you sat down and pinched yourself, realising what you achieved last year? MARTIN KAYMER: I had that question already yesterday, and maybe a little bit. But I think it will take me a long time. I mean, I don't really know -- yes, of course, I see the results of what happened last year and I see the wins that I had and I see the rounds that I've played of golf, the pictures on the Internet and all of those things, but it's still very new. I don't know if I'm too slow, but I'm just kind of living a very nice dream at the moment. Hopefully it will continue for a few more years. Q. What was the best thing you did away from golf over the Christmas break? MARTIN KAYMER: The best thing, I was in New York for Christmas, and I was going to see the Christmas tree, and the little ice skating at Rockefeller Center. I was a little bit disappointed to be honest about the tree. I thought it was a little bit bigger. But those things, just to get away from golf and see different stuff that I think everybody wants to see it once in their lifetime. Yeah, I was using the time to do different things. Q. Obviously you're European No. 1 so, does that mean naturally you start to look at the World Rankings as a goal, and having all of the guys, the two guys above you in the World Ranking list here, is that something you'll be looking at at all? Is that now a focus for you that the European job is done, so now look at the world? MARTIN KAYMER: It's not my goal. Maybe at one stage but not this year. I always say, to become the No. 1 in the world is such a big thing. You can say to me -- Lee Westwood can say now, I'm the best player in the world. He can come wherever and I can beat him but it's a huge statement. If it comes, it would be great this year. Of course, I will have a few chances this year to become the No. 1, if I play well enough, and that's why I would like to maybe become No. 1 as a little side goal. If I play well in the World Golf Championships or the Majors or big events, it will happen automatically but it's not my main goal to become No. 1 in the world. Q. Having Lee and Phil here, at the Abu Dhabi Championship, is that a good test for you, a benchmark to start the season off with both of them here? MARTIN KAYMER: Well, I don't really look at it from this perspective. I just know that I play well here every year, and my goal is to win here again to defend my title. It's just -- I think it's a stronger field than it used to be, which is fantastic for Abu Dhabi, which is great for the golf tournament here. And yes, for us players, it's nice to have Phil Mickelson here, and the same in Dubai when Tiger is coming. It's just great. You can see that the Middle East is growing. The tournaments are getting better here. It just a fantastic start for the season. Q. If Augusta National doesn't suit your game or your game doesn't quite suit Augusta National, what is it about this course that does suit your game? MARTIN KAYMER: It's kind of like every hole I'm standing on the tee box, I already know what I have to do. I think the success that I had here in '08 that gave me the belief, and in '09 and 2010, I can play well here. I don't really have to think about what kind of club I have to hit on this hole, where do I have to place the ball when the pin is here or there. I know and I know it worked out at one stage already. So it's a lot of confidence and it's very comfortable for me to play here. It suits my eye. Q. You've won twice here. You've generated a lot of fans in Abu Dhabi and across the UAE, you're here in the press a lot. Do you have a soft spot for this country and Abu Dhabi? MARTIN KAYMER: I think staying in the Emirates Palace, first of all is a fantastic start. It's run by some Germans which is comfortable. And just coming back here to the golf course is always a very nice welcome. The guys in the locker room, the guys in the restaurant, you know, we gave each other hugs already when we see each other, which is not normal for a golf tournament. It's very nice and it's very welcoming here. It makes me -- every year in the wintertime, I'm really looking forward to come back here to start off in Abu Dhabi. Just the whole picture is great for me. Q. Can I get your reaction to José Maria being appointed the European Ryder Cup Captain? MARTIN KAYMER: I think the players who were in The Ryder Cup team 2008 and 2010, everybody was hoping and kind of like expecting him to be the next captain. To have him as a captain makes -- if I make the team in two years would make me feel very comfortable, very secure around him. Everybody has a lot of respect for him. But not only as an athlete, as a golfer; I think he's a great gentleman. If you have just a meeting with him or dinner or lunch and the way he talks, and the way he is choosing his words, it's very special. It's very powerful and there's a lot of meaning. There's not a lot of trash talk. He is a very strong and solid person, and what I said, we feel very secure about him and he will be a fantastic captain. I remember the first time I saw him and Ballesteros in Valderrama in '97, that makes The Ryder Cup so special for him, and I think for the entire European golf. To have him there was a captain, hopefully Severiano Ballesteros is coming, as well, to America in two years; I think that would be -- without putting any pressure on them, but an unbeatable team. Q. How do you think the American crowd will receive him as the captain? MARTIN KAYMER: Receive him? SCOTT CROCKETT: How do you think they will welcome him. MARTIN KAYMER: He is probably the -- I think José Maria, everybody, has a lot of respect for him, and you can see that when he's entering a room. You can see that when he's playing golf tournaments, the spectators, the players when he is coming to the driving range, everybody is kind of like looking around. It's very special to have him, and no wonder, as well, that's probably a reason why he's in the Hall of Fame. There are not a lot of people out there who are like José Maria, and I think for us, we should be very proud of having somebody like him on The European Team. SCOTT CROCKETT: Thank you very much. End of FastScripts |
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