Newly-crowned US Open champion Martin Kaymer shocked the golfing TV audience in America when he pronounced he intends to curb his ambition following his Pinehurst success.
Golf Channel interviewer Todd Lewis asked Kaymer what his goals were now that he is a two-time Major winner?
The German’s answer all but floored him when 29-year-old Kaymer said: “It is important that you lower your expectations.”
An incredulous Lewis queried: “Lower them?”
“Yeah, it is important to lower them because you can only lose if you have too many expectations for higher goals,” countered Kaymer.
“I’m not a big fan about people who talk about goals, because I think things have to happen naturally. So, now at 29, I’ve won two Majors, and I hope I can give myself more chances in the future.
“The US Open Trophy is important to me right now because it is very, very, big. It is important to my family. It is important for golf in Germany, and hopefully it creates more interest in golf in my homeland.
“At the same time, I don’t want to live in my expectations.
“I just want to play the game the way it is supposed to be played. I want to be satisfied with myself the way I play golf and then I can walk off the 18th green every single time being happy.”
Kaymer’s unusual philosophy is what has brought him victory in the Players Championship and US Open, winning both wire to wire an odd occurence in both events’ history so what does he attribute to his ‘secret’?
“I think it is my attitude of not thinking too far ahead, and not expecting myself to win,” Kaymer continued.
“It is like the marathon. You have to look far ahead, and keep playing the way you do with the mental attitude that you want to perform well that leaves you satisfied with yourself.
‘If I hit bad golf shots, it is acceptable to me. But if I hit bad golf shots playing defensive or trying to defend any lead, I can’t accept that.”
Kaymer admits his Players Championship was huge, and a very big week for his comeback philosophy from his 2010 USPGA win.
He said: “The way I played golf those four days was so consistent. It was the way I always play golf.
“I didn’t make many mistakes. I posted good numbers, and then getting to Pinehurst knowing what I had done four or five weeks ago, I wanted to prove to myself I could do it all over again.”
And, he did!
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