Martin Kaymer - The Next Big Thing?

[right handed phil mickelson]

I'm a MK fan. He could very well be the Michael Schumacher of golf.

His nickname could be "The Stig"

[bcgolf]

His nickname could be "The Stig"

good one

Hope he doesn't have to wear that white helmet on tour !

[FrenchFries]

Made a solid come back last Sunday at Dubai to finally grab the 4th place...he was really hot on the back nine...

[Goosen]

We love to keep him in Europe on our Tour, you can have Rory McI instead!

BTW: Why are the american golf writers are so crazy about Rory beeing the next big think in international golf? - many golf analyst say, that winning is important. How many tournaments did Rory win in the last two years on tour? - one (Dubai 09). Martin has won five: Abu Dhabi twice (08 and 10), BMW International (08), French an Scootish Open (09)!

[joepro23]

Let's see how Kaymer holds up in the Accenture Match play which starts today. He is in the relatively easy Hogan bracket against Chad Campbell. McIlroy is 3 down thru 7 actually.

http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r470/

[Range King]

. He is in the relatively easy Hogan bracket against Chad Campbell

Exactly which "easy bracket"?

Rory, Vijay, Sergio, Jimenez...???

[joepro23]

Just by scanning the brackets I still think it is one of the weaker ones. The four you just listed are obviously good players, but how well have those guys fared in this tournament in the past? Besided Rory who did pretty well last year and made the quarters, none of them have played well. Sergio has never made it past R16, Vijay made the quarterfinals once, and Jimenez hasn't made it past the R32 in 10 years. They avoided Ogilvy (2-time champ), Stricker (world #2 and very hot), Paul Casey (runner up last year) and many others. The real talent is in the player bracket even though Stenson just dropped out.

Update: Jimenez just knocked out

[Sandy Sammy]

Why?

I just don't think you can play the Euro alone, to be the next big thing I think he'll need success on the american tour plus a few majors, if he doesn't I guess he could be the next Euro biggish thing. How many Euro golfers go out and compete on the American tour, many of the big names do, I think he needs to compete and win at this level.

[Acropo]

I just don't think you can play the Euro alone, to be the next big thing I think he'll need success on the american tour plus a few majors, if he doesn't I guess he could be the next Euro biggish thing. How many Euro golfers go out and compete on the American tour, many of the big names do, I think he needs to compete and win at this level.

Interesting but (imho) somewhat parochial - assuming the implication, that US players don't need to go anywhere to 'establish' themselves.

Did you watch the opening few tournaments this year? Which were the more interesting and which had the bigger players on them? The PGA Tour's Hawaii swing and S California snoozefest, or the European Tour's Gulf Swing? While everyone has (apparently) been looking the other way, the European Tour has been building itself into a global tour, which attracts truly talented golfers from all over the world. Rather than requiring European players to win in the US to prove their 'credentials', shouldn't the boot be somewhat on the other foot? Or, at the very least, shouldn't both feet be adequately shod? It's not as if the prizemoney is seriously lacking - or the appearance money, for that matter.

[Sandy Sammy]

Interesting but (imho) somewhat parochial - assuming the implication, that US players don't need to go anywhere to 'establish' themselves.

I don't think they do, ignoring the odd significant tourney.

[Acropo]

I don't think they do, ignoring the odd significant tourney.

With one player in the 1/4-finals of the Accenture Matchplay, perhaps it's time for the stay-at-home US players to rethink their strategy. The world has moved on, a lot, in the past few years.

Kaymer - and any other European player - can drop by for the odd 'significant tourney' in the US without damaging their prospects. There are seven, including the TPC Sawgrass, that can be played without signing up for the restrictive terms on the PGA Tour. Leaves one free to play the Gulf Swing, Australian Open, SA Open, HSBC Champions, BMW PGA, Scottish Open, Matchplay at Valderrama, Johnnie Walker Classic, Dubai World Championship, etc, etc. Prizemoney's good - and the appearance fees aren't bad, either!

[Range King]

Kaymer has ice in his veins.When he makes a mistake he just gets on with it, never shows any emotion.Good distance off the tee and a great, great putter.I'd fancy him to win a major in the next 3 years and expect a good showing from him in the Ryder Cup this year.

You called it, just a bit on the conservative side

I doubt MK will be THE next big thing, but I really think he and Rory will be around for a long long time collecting titles (along with all the other ususal suspects in their 20s). Hopefully starting with the Ryder Cup in october.

[Tiger Spuds]

You called it, just a bit on the conservative side

It wasn't a big stretch to foresee him winning a Major to be honest.Don't want to be stereotypical, but he really does have that German coolness and efficiency that comes in handy under pressure

, he was unflappable.That was the difference between him and Rory on Sunday.Kaymer made the putts he needed to and Rory couldn't.But technically Martin is good too.Saw him in person a few weeks ago and he was very impressive, plays lovely fades that land soft and as we all know, his putting is awesome.

[Tiger Spuds]

He should have been a soccer player.

[Stretch]

That's a bit good! Yellow card for the pink polo, though.

[te3point5]

Fine, I'll be the first to say it, his girlfriend is hot too...

Oh, and he plays well.

[nevets88]

Not to play down Kaymer, that's pretty good, especially with golf shoes, but I bet you alot of the Euro players and probably internationals played a wee bit of soccer (not sure if they can all do what Kaymer did though.)

Wasn't Harrington a GK? I read somewhere the knots in his fingers will prove it.

Didn't the EPL season just start?

[JWL1957]

Kaymer looks really solid. He could be one of the next better ones.