June 19, 2014 WHAT's HAPPENING in GOLF Das Boot
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The Pin Sheet – Volume 43 – June 19, 2014 WHAT’S HAPPENING IN GOLF Das Boot! Kaymer Goes Wire to Wire, Overwhelms Field in U.S. Open It was hard not to notice the symmetry in Martin Kaymer’s final par save in the 114th edition of the U.S. Open and the par made by the late Payne Stewart to win the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. Both players missed their tee shots to the right of the 18th fairway at No. 2 and had to lay up, then wedge their third shots onto the green and attempt to save par with their putters. Stewart, of course, did just that, rolling in one of the most memorable 18-foot putts in golf history to hand Phil Mickelson the first of his record six runner-up finishes in the U.S. Open. Stewart’s subsequent one-legged fist pump is one of the most enduring images in golf, and is immortalized in a statue just off the 18th green. Kaymer’s 15-foot par save didn’t produce any fist pumps, only gasps, as the 29-year-old German’s final putt completed an 8- stroke wire-to-wire victory in one of the most lopsided U.S. Opens ever. Kaymer’s four-round total of 9-under-par 271 was the second lowest in tournament history behind Rory McIlroy’s 268 at Congressional in 2011, and his eight-stroke margin of victory was the fourth-largest in a U.S. Open. Only McIlroy reached double digits under par in a U.S. Open faster than Kaymer did, although the Northern Irishman was quick to admit afterwards that Kaymer’s performance was “nearly more impressive” than what he did at Congressional, when the course was playing wet and very soft. Pinehurst No. 2 was very hard and fast, in part due to renovations that Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw made in 2011 to remove the rough and bring back the native areas and waste bunkers that defined Donald Ross’ original design. Any mystery as to who’d win this U.S. Open was settled as early as mid-day on Friday, when Kaymer turned in his second consecutive 65 and reached the halfway point in 10-under 130, the lowest 36-hole total in the championship’s history. Seemingly in control from the start, the 2010 PGA champion hit 13 of 14 fairways in Round 1 and 12 of 14 in Round 2, and played the last 29 holes without a bogey. When Kaymer needed to get the ball up-and-down to save par, he was nearly flawless, averaging a mere 27 putts per round over the first 36 holes to open up a six-shot bulge over Brendon Todd—the largest in U.S. Open history, matching Tiger Woods (2000) and McIlroy (2011). Any remote chance that the lead or the moment would be too big for Kaymer was squelched early in the third round when he did a masterful job of recovering from two poor tee shots on the fourth and fifth holes. First, he drove into the native area to the left of the fairway on No. 4, and was forced to take an unplayable lie when his ball came to rest against a wall of pine straw. After dropping, he punched out from the pines and then proceeded to hit his approach shot to about 15 feet, where he calmly sunk the putt for a most impressive bogey. (Kaymer did not make a single double-bogey over 72 holes.) Then on the par-5 fifth, he drove it left again, only this time to draw a more favorable lie in the native area just behind a small bush. From there, he stung his approach shot to 6 feet and made eagle, increasing his lead from five strokes to seven. After that, Kaymer was in cruise control and his lead never shrunk below five shots. Heading into the U.S. Open, all of the pre-tournament chatter was about Woods’ continued rehab from back surgery and Phil Mickelson’s bid for an elusive first national championship. World No. 1 Adam Scott and McIlroy were also generating a lot of buzz, and were widely considered the favorites at Pinehurst No. 2. Kaymer? The former world No. 1 garnered very little attention, surprising considering he won wire-to-wire over an even better field at THE PLAYERS Championship only a month ago. Consider it the last time Kaymer ever flies under the radar again. Kaymer became the first player to win THE PLAYERS and the U.S. Open in the same season, and he held at least a share of the lead after all four rounds in both tournaments. With the victory, he also joined some very elusive company—Woods, Mickelson, and Scott—as the only players to win a major, THE PLAYERS, and a World Golf Championship. Early in 2011, just several months after winning his first major title at Whistling Straits, Kaymer overtook Lee Westwood for the No. 1 spot in the world rankings. His stay at the top was a mere eight weeks, but his decline lasted much longer. Determined to become a more complete player and add a draw to his natural fade, he retooled his swing and virtually disappeared from golf’s elite, falling to as low as No. 63 in the world rankings. Kaymer did sink the clinching putt in the 2012 Ryder Cup, holing a 6-foot putt on the final hole to defeat Steve Stricker in singles play and cap Europe’s comeback from a 4-point deficit at the start of the day. Buoyed by that clutch putt, Kaymer joined the PGA TOUR full-time in 2013 and started to slowly regain his confidence and elite form, something which was on full display at Pinehurst. As for Mickelson, his bid to complete the career grand slam was undermined by an untimely putting slump. Putting with a “claw” grip in Round 1, he needed 31 putts to shoot a 70 on a day when his ball- striking was nearly flawless. Then, switching back and forth between the claw grip and a conventional grip on Friday, he putted himself out of the tournament thanks to 34 putts and a 3-over-par 73. That put the people’s favorite an insurmountable 13 strokes behind Kaymer. Lefty putted better on the weekend, but only managed a pair of 72s to finish in a tie for 28th place. It’s the first time since Woods and Mickelson turned pro that neither player has turned in a top-25 finish in either of the year’s first two majors. Woods missed the Masters and the U.S. Open recovering from back surgery while Mickelson missed the cut at Augusta National. For much of the weekend, the only real battle was for second place. In the end, it belonged to two-time heart transplant recipient Erik Compton and Rickie Fowler, both of whom finished at 1-under par. For Compton, who was playing in just his second major, it was his best finish on the PGA TOUR, and was good enough to earn an invitation to next year’s Masters. For the 25-year-old Fowler, it was the first time he played in the final Sunday pairing in a major, and while he failed to mount much of a charge against Kaymer, he did continue to flash signs of big things to come. It was his second consecutive top-5 finish in a major (he tied for 5th at Augusta National in April), and his fourth top-20 showing in his last five major appearances. Keegan Bradley, Jason Day, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, and World No. 2 Henrik Stenson tied for fourth at +1, while Scott finished in a tie for 9th place at 2-over par, his first top-10 finish in a U.S. Open. U.S. Open Ratings Fizzle Martin Kaymer’s blowout victory, coupled with Tiger Woods’ absence and Phil Mickelson’s failure to get into contention, proved to be very bad for U.S. Open TV ratings. Sunday’s final round drew an overnight rating of 3.3, down 46 percent from last year’s U.S. Open at Merion, when Mickelson briefly held the lead on the back nine before being overtaken by Justin Rose. It was also well below the 7.8 overnight rating for the final round of this year’s Masters, won by Bubba Watson. Woods Taking Full Swings, Eyeing British Open Return? Let the Tiger Woods Watch begin! While the U.S. Open was being contested some 600-plus miles to the north in Pinehurst, N.C., Woods was reportedly hitting balls at the Medalist Club in South Florida. The big news wasn’t so much that the 14-time major champion was practicing, but that he was taking full swings again for the first time since undergoing microdiscectomy surgery in March to treat a pinched nerve in his back. He had been chipping and putting for several weeks. While it may be too soon for Woods to come back in time to play in next week’s Quicken Loans National at Congressional, which benefits Woods’ Foundation, the fact that Woods is now working his way through the bag raises hopes that he’ll play in next month’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool (July 17-20). Woods’ last British Open title came at Hoylake in 2006. Woods’ return can’t come fast enough, as the overnight ratings for the final round of the U.S.