Ireland's Padraig Harrington praises Germany's Martin Kaymer
The new world number two, Martin Kaymer, is again scoring headlines in the golfing world after winning the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship this weekend. Kaymer's ninth European title has put him ahead of the 14-time major champion,
Tiger Woods in the world rankings. In his support, fellow Ryder Cup team member, Padraig Harrington acknowledged Martin and all his accomplishments.
"He's probably the most formidable player in the world when he is leading," said Harrington."He seems to intimidate the rest of the field into believing that if he gets in front he is going to win."
Harrington was of the opinion that Martin has overcome the greatness of the Tiger in many ways. He especially mentioned Martin’s ability to close out a tournament once in front. Looking at the margin of Kaymer’s victory, no doubt,
Paddy was right. Martin achieved an amazing eight shot victory at the championship this weekend and hence attained his third win at the event in the past four years.
Kaymer, after winning the event, could not believe it and obviously was even more eager to play golf in the coming weeks. Playing the last 60 holes without a bogey, the player managed to give an amazing 24 under par on Sunday.
According to Martin, it was the perfect course for him.
“I never expected my career to go this fast. There was not a lot to improve this week (in Abu Dhabi), but there's always something and I'll be working on my game before playing again,” said Martin.
Owing to Martin’s amazing performance, Woods has slipped down to the number three spot in the world rankings. Tiger, who will be starting his season at this week’s Farmers Insurance Open, has featured in the top two since 2004.
This leaves the top two rankings to European players, as Lee Westwood is number one. This is something that has not happened since 1993 when Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer were leading the rankings. Coincidentally, the duo back then was also an English-German
pair.
As for Harrington, the player was disqualified on Friday on account of some violation. Signalling a wrong score, Padraig was forced to withdraw. Had he told about it earlier, Padraig would have only received a two shot penalty.
With Harrington’s disqualification, the R&A is supervising an extensive review of the rules book to see if Harrington was supposed to be disqualified.
All in all, last weekend was surely exciting one for golf fans. With the year just starting, it looks like 2011 will be yet another fantastic year in the golfing arena.
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