Martin Kaymer happy to be off the radar with Tiger Woods on the field at Abu Dhabi Championship
The formidable German has returned to his happy-hunting ground, in a bid to defend the title for the umpteenth time.
Ranked number four at the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), Martin Kaymer will be one of the biggest threats for the field at this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, an event he has won two consecutive times in last three years and three times in the last four.
In fact, if it had not been for Englishman Paul Casey who took over the young German, forcing him to settle for runner-up finish, Kaymer would have landed the title four times in continuation.
For the moment, Kaymer is happy for another reason. He will be playing amid the strongest field ever compiled in the history of the event and is likely to be overshadowed by the legendary Tiger Woods, at least in terms of stalking hordes of spectators.
When asked about the presence of Woods on the field, Kaymer said, “I think there's less focus on me now. I'm not playing in that group tomorrow, if you want to call it the best group to watch or the most entertaining. I know that people will want see Tiger, the Number One in the world [Luke Donald] and Rory McIlroy so that's a great group to watch”.
Four top-ranked players on the OWGR as well as three major title holders will be pitched in a stiff battle to surge to the top in the four-day event.
Tiger Woods, who decided to start off the season with a European Tour event rather than his favourite hunting ground, the Torrey Pines on PGA, is on a high tide for the moment.
He will surely be the most followed player on the course over the weekend, and the sponsors are already expecting a record-breaking crowd of 40,000 and above.
Kaymer added, “It's always nice to play tournaments where he's playing, because it adds a little bit of everything, and it's good for the tournament and I'm very happy he came over here”.
Kaymer is paired will Sergio Garcia, winner of back-to-back titles on European Tour last year and world number two Lee Westwood.
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