Germany’s Martin Kaymer completed a wire-to-wire US Open victory on Sunday to claim his second major title by grinding out a one-under-par 69 to win by eight strokes at Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Former world No. 1 Kaymer, whose first major title was at the 2010 US PGA Championship, finished 72 holes on nine-under 271, the second-lowest total in US Open history after Rory McIlroy’s 268 in 2011.
“It was probably the toughest day that I played golf,” Kaymer said of his final round. “I stayed aggressive and I played very brave. So I’m very proud of that. I’m very happy.”
Photo: Reuters
Kaymer displayed poise under pressure while calmly making long clutch putts on tricky turtle-backed greens on his way to pocketing the US$1.62 million winner’s check.
He followed a US Open record-low start of back-to-back 65s with a 72 to lead by five entering the last round and kept his edge to the end, matching Northern Irishman McIlroy’s 2011 win margin as the fourth-biggest in the event’s history.
US duo Rickie Fowler and Erik Compton shared second on 279 after each fired a final-round 72, but no one came within four strokes of Kaymer at any point on Sunday.
“No one was catching Kaymer this week,” Compton said.
Compton, a double heart transplant recipient playing in only his second major, achieved his best PGA finish and pocketed US$789,330, more than his best prior season and almost as much as his prior 19 starts this year combined.
“For me to do this at such a high level is just as good a feeling as winning,” said Compton, who received his first new heart at age 12 in 1992 and underwent a second transplant in 2008. “It’s a career-opening thing for me, to put myself on the map and prove to the world I’m not just the guy with two heart transplants.”
Sweden’s second-ranked Henrik Stenson, who would have become world No. 1 with a win, shared fourth on 281 with Australian Jason Day and US trio Brooks Koepka, Keegan Bradley and Dustin Johnson.
The victory culminated a comeback for Kaymer, who went almost three years without a PGA win until taking last month’s Players Championship. He is now only the seventh player to win after leading every round, joining a select champions’ list that includes Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Walter Hagen, Ben Hogan, James Barnes and Tony Jacklin.
The victory saw the 29-year-old from Dusseldorf post a litany of firsts: the first man to win the Players and US Open in the same year, the first from continental Europe to win the US Open and the fourth European winner in five seasons.
Kaymer joins Jack Nicklaus, the US’ Woods and Hal Sutton in winning the Players and a major in the same year.
The German will now jump from 28th to 11th in the world rankings.
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