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ALSTOM OPEN DE FRANCE

July 2, 2011

Martin Kaymer

PARIS, FRANCE

Q. When only a good score would do to get you into this thing, how pleased are you with what happened?
MARTIN KAYMER: I'm very happy. I had a good start. I put myself a lot of times in good positions to make birdies. My putting was good. My short game was very good today. I think I hit only four greens in regulation, the first nine, and then I was 1-under par which was nice and then obviously the eagle on 14 kept me going.
And so I finished level par the last four holes, which is always okay. I could even have made another birdie on 18, but I'm very happy, 4-under par. I think it put me in a good position for tomorrow.

Q. Scores improving day-by-day, do you feel the game is getting better?
MARTIN KAYMER: I feel comfortable overall. My swing feels better. I can hit long drives now. Even the low draws once in awhile they come, and I can sink a few more putts today and that made the difference in the end.

Q. How much does this course in these conditions examine the different aspects of the game?
MARTIN KAYMER: I think today was probably the toughest day. If you hit fairways, be you can make birdies. But it's just -- for me it's a perfect golf course. I can hit those stinger 2-irons and I get 270 metres, 260 metres with a 2-iron, it really suits my game.
But I think most importantly is if you hit the fairways because it's not a short golf course. It's very long, and I think the key is the last four or five holes, you don't screw it up there. I can remember last year, I really wanted to win the golf tournament again, and I made double-bogey 15, double 18. Hopefully will be different tomorrow.

Q. How excited are you about tomorrow?
MARTIN KAYMER: Very excited. I would have loved to made that birdie on 18. I'm three back now, so we'll see where the leader is going to be the end of the day. But if I'm only three back, I think I have a good chance. I've won before.

Q. You said yesterday that your game was improving so you put everything together today?
MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, I was playing a little better than the days before. It was a little tougher than Thursday and Friday, so I'm very pleased with 4-under par. I could finally make some putts and a great eagle on 14 that kept me going pretty much, especially on the back nine and gave me motivation, especially for the last four or five holes, they are not easy. 67 is a very good score under those conditions.

Q. You've had a 71 and 69, so 67, so it's going to be 65 tomorrow?
MARTIN KAYMER: Well, I have done 62 already in the past. I'm just trying to put myself in position for the last four or five holes tomorrow. If I'm only one or two behind last four or five holes, I can play aggressive and give myself a lot of chances. And if I have chances, I'm usually good under pressure when I need to make the putts.
It's just nice to be in position right now to put the pressure on the guy up there, so I hope it comes down to this tomorrow afternoon.
I played better than the days before so I was very pleased with that. I think the main thing was I could make a lot of up-and-downs, especially the first time. I made only one bogey, that was on 8.
And the big difference was the eagle on 14, I had a perfect yardage for our 4-iron and hit it to ten or 12 feet and could make the putt and that definitely gave me motivation the last four holes, because, yeah, they can be tough.

Q. Yesterday you acknowledged putting yourself close to the leaders was a good thing to do and you are very close up there looking to tomorrow's round. You may be two or three shots behind the leaders. How do you feel for tomorrow?
MARTIN KAYMER: Well, I'm very excited about tomorrow because I put myself in a very good position and we'll see where I'm ending up the end of the day, if it's two, three, or four shots. But the end of the day it doesn't really matter. It all comes down to the last four holes here and I've won in the past here. If I keep playing the way I did today, and I put some pressure on the guys early in my round, I think anything can happen but I think definitely it will be a very exciting afternoon.

Q. You looked like you were striking the ball really well?
MARTIN KAYMER: I'm hitting the ball definitely better than the weeks before, and a little better than yesterday. But the main difference was my short game was very good today, I could sink a lot of putts, and of course, that eagle on 14, that kept me going.

Q. I watched you in Abu Dhabi and you were superb there. You made a few changes since then. Are they starting now to click?
MARTIN KAYMER: I'm getting close. I just need to be patient and keep practising on those things and keep working on it, and I think soon everything will come together. Hopefully at the right time, that would be nice. Around the British Open it would be fantastic, and I think I'm right up there again.

Q. You know what it takes to win around here, don't you.
MARTIN KAYMER: In '09 I had a good win here, and especially the way I won in the playoff against Lee Westwood, that was a very special nice win. But it all comes down to the last four holes. It's a very exciting golf course, and especially 15, 16, 18, a lot can happen there. You can make birdies, but you can make double-bogeys, too. So my goal tomorrow will be to put myself in position, we'll see where I'm ending up today, but if I'm only one or two behind going into the last four holes, I think I will play a little bit more aggressive, of course, to try to win and get the trophy back and then we'll see what the leaders will do.

Q. What were you trying to achieve with the swing changes?
MARTIN KAYMER: It was always a little bit too steep, a little too far out, I wanted it to it get it more on a neutral plane.

Q. Hit the ball straighter.
MARTIN KAYMER: Straighter and have more options to shape the ball, right-to-left even sometimes. I can see it. I'm getting closer every day and every week, I just need to, what I said, keep practising on it.

Q. Have you heard the expression in English, if it ain't broke, don't fix it; was it a big decision to make to change it?
MARTIN KAYMER: Not at all. Of course I was playing good golf, but the main thing is, I saw room for improvement, and if I see that room, I want to get there. I don't want to look back in ten years and think, maybe I could have done this better or this better. I'm just trying to go -- to achieve everything, to get it the maximum out of my game and my swing. And my coach and me, we talked about it, and we are very confident that it will work out. And I know, I can feel I'm on a good way.

Q. Are the changes more easier or difficult than you expected?
MARTIN KAYMER: It takes definitely longer. I was expecting that I will be fine two weeks ago already for the U.S. Open. That was the goal. But it took me a little bit longer, but that's fine. Hopefully I have a career for another 25 years.

Q. Are you aware Nick Faldo did exactly the same thing?
MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, talked to Fanny about it, as well. And she said, if you see room for improvement, it would be not a good idea, if you just leave it, you'll always think about it. I'm pretty sure if it gets together, if I get there, if it's in two weeks or in two months or whenever it's going to be, I'm sure I will be more than happy that I did that change.

Q. Was it because when you got to the Masters, there was an area there --
MARTIN KAYMER: The Masters, that gave me maybe the final push to really do it. I was always very disappointed and really unhappy when I left the Masters, because I was just sometimes not able to hit those golf shots. And I thought, you know, you're one of the best players in the world and you're not able to hit the golf shot. That can't be right.
So I just know that I can get there one day, and I can play well in Augusta, too. But I just need to do those changes at one stage in the game. I'm 26 years old, and you see Bernhard Langer, he's still winning, 25 years later.

Q. You got yourself in contention this week. Is a win important before you go back to the PGA to defend in Atlanta?
MARTIN KAYMER: A win or not doesn't really matter. Of course it's nice but it's more important that I play well and hit the ball solid, and the win will come one day. I have not won for five months now, but that's okay. I'm doing some changes and that's fine, and for me it's just important that I feel comfortable over the golf ball and know what the ball does, and I feel happy about it now.

Q. Could it be a measure that you're a No. 1, you make the changes, you've gone down to 4; if you finish eighth tomorrow, you're back up to No. 3, and the graph would show that it's working?
MARTIN KAYMER: In the World Rankings, it was, of course, very important for me to be No. 1. And I'm sure if I continue the things that I do, I think I have a very good chance to get back to No. 1 one day. But now, you know, if I'm No. 4 or 5 or 6 or 2, it doesn't make a big difference. As long as I'm in the Top-50 and if I can play every tournament, I'm fine.

Q. What do you think of Rory's performance at the U.S. Open?
MARTIN KAYMER: For me it was tough to see 16-under but it was kind of like he played on auto pilot, boom, next hole. But it was impressive to see, and I was very happy. It was enjoyable to seat last round because he kept playing aggressive, because he was so confident.

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