Rory McIlroy inspires Martin Kaymer ahead of the Open Championship
World number three Martin Kaymer is ready to lead the field at the Open Championship after taking a good dose of motivation from the way Rory McIlroy played at the US Open, earlier in June.
The 26-year-old has been seen struggling on the American styled courses. He missed the cut at the Masters and finished in Top 39 at the US Open, whereas McIlroy bagged a Top 15 finish at the Masters and won the latter.
Commenting at the eight-stroke victory of McIlroy, Kaymer said that he spent the whole of his Sunday watching McIlroy’s game at the US Open and took inspiration from him.
Kaymer said while speaking to reporters, “A lot of people thought that he maybe cannot bring it home after the Masters, but the way he played on Sunday was very impressive and nice to see that he kept being aggressive. I need to go back to the driving range,
I need to hit more balls, need to become a better player, because he played that golf course almost in a perfect way. It motivates you and inspires you.”
The German spoke highly of McIlroy and admitted that the Northern Irishman had raised the bar quite high. Kaymer is aware of the fact that to be on top at Sandwich, he needs to outperform even himself, apart from other players.
Talking about his win at Whistling Straits last year, Kaymer said that the victory boosted his morale in a “very positive way.” Kaymer won the US PGA Championship last year and his maiden major victory is to date his biggest aspiration.
Talking about the win, the German added, “It gave me a lot of belief and motivation I could do well, especially coming to big events like the British Open.”
Answering another question, Kaymer said that putting would be the key to success at the Royal St. George’s. He said that there was a huge possibility that the field would have to putt from a long distance, due to the presence of slopes in between the green
and the putting area. Hence, a lot would depend on how one approaches their short game.
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