In just four years Martin Kaymer has come a long way (Feature)

By DB Peters Aug 16, 2010, 3:23 GMT

Sheboygan, Wisconsin - Germany's Martin Kaymer has only been playing on the European Tour since 2007, but on Sunday he managed what many never achieve.

The 25-year-old won his first major when he beat long-hitting American Bubba Watson in a three-hole play-off on the Whistling Straits course in Kohler, Wisconsin to become the 2010 US PGA champion.

Kaymer turned professional in 2005 and qualified for the 2007 European Tour. Just a year later he won his first tournament when he took the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship by four strokes from Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson.

In June of the same year he won his second tournament when he took the BMW International Open, beating Anders Hansen in a play-off.

In July 2009 he again won a play-off, this time against Westwood, to win the France Open and followed that up a week later by winning the Scottish Open.

Earlier this year he won his second Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, beating Ian Poulter by one shot.

Going into the 92nd PGA Championship, Kaymer had already managed three top-ten finishes in the majors (7th at the British Open and 8th at the US Open this year and 6th at the US PGA last year).

His first round 72 on Thursday saw him five shots behind the leader Matt Kuchar, and although he played a four-under 68 in the second round, he was still five shots behind Kuchar.

Going into the fourth round, Kaymer was four behind Nick Watney.

But as Watney self-destructed on his final round, Kaymer played steady golf and took over the lead when three birdies took him to 12- under.

A bogey on the par-four 15th saw him fall back and he shared the lead with Watson, who was playing ahead of him and went into the club-house on 11-under for the tournament.

The Duesseldorf-born player then seemed to have thrown it away on the 18th when he failed to find the green with his second shot and landed in an awkward position.

A brilliant third shot left him with a tough 15-foot putt which he needed to sink to qualify for the play-off. 'I took a long time to read the putt, but then it went straight in the cup.'

In the play-off he was again chasing Watson, who birdied the first of the three holes, but Kaymer again showed that he is a man who can keep his cool when he holed an 18-foot putt to birdie the par-three 17th hole and draw level.

On the 18th Watson hit his second shot into the creek, allowing Kaymer the luxury to lay-up. 'I think it was the smart play. My lie was not very good and then Bubba hit it down into the creek, so I thought that if I give myself a chance for a par.

'I did not think that I was going to lose the hole with a bogey, but I wanted to give myself the chance for the par. And that is what I did and it was enough.'

He admitted that he was very nervous at the last few holes of regular play, but not at the play-off. 'In the play-off it was weird, I was very calm.

'I was playing well and my putting was good, I just thought I should make no stupid mistakes. I said to myself I should just keep playing and it was then an amazing feeling walking up to the 18th to win and that felt pretty cool and calmed me down a little bit.'

Kaymer, who has secured one of the places on the European Ryder Cup, said that he was now looking forward to playing in the tournament that sees the best players of the US compete against their European counterparts every two years.

'The Ryder Cup was always one of my goals and to play this year in Europe in Wales ... I can't think of something better to be honest.

'I am taking three weeks off now and having a bit of a holiday. I can relax a bit and hopefully I will realise what happened today and I will then be ready for the Ryder Cup.'

Kaymer, who last year had to sit out several weeks and missed out on the 2-million dollar win bonus for the European Tours Race to Dubai after a go-karting accident, promised that he would not go karting again ahead of the Ryder Cup.

'I think I will only go jet-skiing', he said.

Kaymer said that it would take some time to sink in that he had won a major. 'I just won my first major and I am just on the tour since four years. I get goose bumps just talking about it.

'I don't know how big it will be in Germany, I don't even know how big it is for me at the moment. I don't really realise at the moment what just happened.'

But with the media spot-light that is bound to focus on him in the next few weeks and having secured his participation for life in all future PGA Championships, it seems certain that something very big has happened for Martin Kaymer.