Martin Kaymer earns the winning point for the European Ryder Cup team
Martin Kaymer parred the final hole of the 2012 Ryder Cup and earned the winning point for the European Ryder Cup team. It was no doubt a stunning performance showed by the former world number one player.
Earlier in the day, seven of the 11 matches were won by the European players, marking a strong comeback in the tournament. Entering the Sunday singles on Sunday, the points were 10-6 in favour of the United States team.
Therefore, the European team needed at least 8 ½ points to inflict a victory over the US team. The required score equalled the record comeback marked by the US team in the 1999 Ryder Cup.
However, the European team captain Jose Maria Olazabal was optimistic about his team’s performance on the final day.
The players also offered their best at the Medinah Country Club and kept the hopes of their captain alive, till the last match of the tournament.
Steve Stricker took the lead over Kaymer early in the match by carding a birdie on the second hole. However, the sixth hole witnessed him lose the lead, after Kaymer took advantage of his rival’s bogey putt.
He then earned shots on the 9th, 12th and the 14th hole. In the meantime, Stricker also fought back with points on the 10th, 13th and the 15th hole.
Kaymer once again took the lead by earning a shot on the 17th hole, and retained that till the end of the match.
It was a crucial point for the European team, as it matched the strongest comeback in the history of the biennial event.
At the end of the tournament, he stated that he was highly influenced by the former European team captain Bernhard Langer.
“It's a feeling I've never had before,” Kaymer said. “On Friday I sat down with Bernhard and talked to him about the Ryder Cup because my attitude was not the right one, but after that I knew how important the Ryder Cup is”.
When asked to compare his victory in the 2010 US PGA Championship to the Ryder Cup, he stated, “It's a completely different level. The major was just for me. Here, my brother and father were here and now I know how great it feels to win the Ryder Cup”.
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