LIV Golf: pain-free Kaymer back in contention again after four-year battle with injury
- Martin Kaymer shoots six-under-par 64 to sit in tie for third after opening round at Hong Kong Golf Club
- The German says this winter was the first time he was able to practise without worrying about his damaged left wrist
Pain free for the first time in four years and finally feeling like himself again, Martin Kaymer is in contention at a LIV Golf tournament for the first time.
It has been a decade since the German won the US Open, the second major of his career, and his struggles since have included an ongoing battle with an injury to his left wrist.
Only surviving a poor 2023 because of his status as captain of Cleeks GC, the 39-year-old’s best finish so far this year was a tie for 28th at the season opener in Mayakoba.
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He followed that up with a tie for 51st in Las Vegas, where he was six-over-par in his final round, and a 45th place in Jeddah last weekend.
But Kaymer made the most of a docile Hong Kong Golf Club course on Friday, shooting a six-under 64 to end the day alongside five others in a tie for third, one shot behind Dean Burmester and Abraham Ancer.
“I think I started on fairly tricky holes, No 8 and No 9,” Kaymer said. “Those are the holes, they’re one of the tricky ones on the golf course, and I hit it both to two feet, so it was fairly easy birdies to start with, and it’s nice to start the round and the tournament like that.
“Then I hit two or three fairly long putts that I made, and it really kept the round going, six under is a great score on the golf course.”
Kaymer said his winter in Spain had been the first time he could “really work on my game again” and the wrapping he still had on his wrist was “more like a mental thing”.
“This winter was the first winter for, I would say, the last four years that I was pain free,” he said. “Fortunately I don’t need to take any painkillers any more. Obviously when I had surgery in November 2022, 2023 was always one of those seasons where I just needed to pull through.”
Acknowledging that practising well did not necessarily mean playing well, Kaymer said it was just nice to have arrived in Mexico knowing he was somewhat prepared.
But the former world No 1 said last year had been “mentally quite difficult to go through”, given his results and the level of competition he faced.
“It’s very disappointing that you play against some of the best players in the world, and just being OK is not enough,” he said. “I finished quite often on the bottom of the leaderboard.
“Now it’s just getting used to it again, to shooting lower scores, and once in a while being up there and feeling that pressure and that – yeah, it’s just a different feeling when you’re in the top five, top 10 and playing to win a golf tournament.”
Kaymer’s performance, alongside that of teammates Richard Bland (-4) and Adrian Meronk (-2), means Cleeks go into Saturday’s second round in a tie for third at 12 under, four shots behind Burmester’s Stinger GC.
