Opinion: Kaymer finds swing at US Open

The US Open is a special golf tournament. It is one of the year's four major championships in professional golf, but even among these, it is the hardest to win.

Why? First off, because of the course. Year in, year out, US Open venues are set up to determine who is the strongest player. The rough is long, and the greens are fast. If you aren't familiar with these terms, let it suffice to say that you cannot win the US Open if you have any weakness in your game.

You have to drive the ball straight from the tee. You have to be precise with your iron shots in approach to the green. And once you are on or around the green, you have to be able to get that little white ball in the hole.

A second reason why the US Open is so hard has to do with the pressure of playing a difficult golf course. Every bad shot you hit, i.e. every time you mess up, you get punished. Severely. This means that you have to be in control of yourself physically and mentally to do well.

Martin Kaymer did all these things for the past four days so bizarrely well - it's almost pointless to talk about it. I'll just say one thing: he embarrassed the best players in the world, at one of the most important tournaments all year, for four straight days. Incredible. Truly.

Equanimity personified

There is something, however, that's not pointless to talk about here. It's the way he carried himself as he was out there embarrassing the world's best for four straight days. I've been watching Kaymer play for six years now, and on Sunday, I honestly couldn't tell from his body language that he was on the summit of the golfing world. He had the same stride, the same driving - but not hurried - pace that he's had the whole time over the past years.

I think it's important to be said here that Kaymer hasn't been on the summit of the golfing world over those past years. In fact, until only recently, he'd had a rather tough go of it. And that was after being way up top. In 2011, Kaymer was the best ranked golfer on the planet. He soon fell into what's known in golf parlance as a ‘slump', and seemed to move further and further down the leaderboard as time went on.

There was, as there always is, speculation as to why Kaymer's performance lacked. A new coach? A new girlfriend? A new perspective on life? Perhaps golf doesn't mean that much to him anymore? Maybe he can't deal with being number one in the world? Did it all happen too fast?

In the face of disappointment, however - disappointing results, that is - at no point could you see any dismay or resignation in Kaymer. His gait then was the same as it was on Sunday. His demeanor, too. Well, if not the same, then at least curiously close.

I'm not saying that Kaymer is the second coming of Seneca; however, his even-keel nature probably did factor into his dominance over the weekend.

The authentic swing

Kaymer is now being compared to Tiger Woods. That's how good he was at this US Open. But, as appropriate as this comparison is in terms of performance (Kaymer was most certainly Woods-esque over the past four days), I wonder if perhaps one of the contrasts between the two is more interesting.

If you saw or heard the interview he gave to reporters on Friday evening, after blowing the field away by an almost incomprehensible six shots over the opening two rounds, the contrast I'm talking about should be apparent.

"You have to play the game... You play with your heart... [You can't] try to control everything - which is a little bit the way I am as a person, I like to be in control of things, the way most Germans are […]."

Such openness would be unthinkable in an interview with Tiger Woods. I'm not sure I've ever heard Tiger say the word ‘heart' in connection with his game before. But Kaymer would go on.

He later said he watched the movie ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance' to get perspective on where he was, or in Kaymer's words, to "enjoy" the moment he found himself in.

There is a deep perspective that Kaymer may have been able to take from that movie. Bagger Vance is based on a novel by Steven Pressfield that tells the story of a golfer who has lost himself in the vicissitudes of life. That golfer, once on the summit, fell a long way, and had to struggle through years of setbacks and disappointments to make his way up.
Sound familiar?

Congratulations, Martin.