On the verge of the silver jubilee of the World Ranking, which was inaugurated by his compatriot Benhard Langer, another German, Martin Kaymer, has risen to the top of the world ranking of men’s professional golf. At the age of 26, the German has dethroned Lee Westwood of England, who four months ago managed the feat of ending the undisputed reign of Tiger Woods, who has been in a slump since his tumultuous extramarital life was uncovered.
Kaymer overtook Westwood in the World Ranking by 20 hundredths thanks to his brilliant performance in the Accenture Match Play Championship of the World Series of Golf, where he finished second after losing in the final to the British Luke Donald.
The player from Düsseldorf defeated the American Bubba Watson (one up) in a semifinal full of alternatives at the Dove Ritz-Carlton Mountain Golf Club, Arizona. Miguel Ángel Jiménez was one of Kaymer’s victims on his way to the number one position, as he was defeated in the quarterfinals.
Kaymer thus completes a meteoric rise to the top of professional golf, in a remarkable week (the first week of March) for golf in the Old Continent, with Europeans occupying the top four places in the World Ranking for the first time in 19 years.
While Kaymer and Westwood switched places, Donald was third and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell was fourth.
The last time Europe enjoyed such primacy in the World Ranking was on March 15, 1992, when the formidable quartet of Ian Woosnam, Nick Faldo, José María Olazábal and Severiano Ballesteros occupied the top four positions.
As he prepared to face Ryder Cup teammate Donald in the final 18 holes of the Accenture Match Play Championship, Kaymer said, “I definitely need some time to think about it and let it settle in. The good thing is that I don’t have a tournament next week, so maybe then I’ll be able to appreciate what I’ve done. But what I can say for sure is that it’s an incredible, proud moment. Not only for me, but also for my family, for the people who have helped me and obviously for Germany and the European Tour. To be the second German after Bernhard Langer, who was my role model when I was growing up, is a very special feeling.”
“It’s an incredible moment of great pride, not only for me but also for my family, the people who have helped me, Germany and the European Tour.”
“As I say,” I continue, “I probably won’t be fully aware until Monday, but when the new World Ranking is definitely published I’ll have my picture taken with my name at the top. It’s unreal to me at the moment, but maybe when I see it in writing I’ll start to believe I’m the best golfer in the world. Not many people can say you are the best player in the world in their sport, so I feel very honored and privileged. I will feel very special if I can beat Luke in the final, because then I will really believe I deserve it.”
While Langer, a two-time Masters winner, was the first to rise to the top of the World Ranking, a position he held for three weeks, Kaymer is the fourteenth player, and the sixth European, to reach that coveted position in the quarter-century of the ranking’s existence.
Since turning professional in 2005 and winning on his European Challenge Tour debut the following year, Kaymer has gone from strength to strength in a very short space of time, winning nine times on the European Tour, most recently by eight strokes at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship HSBC, a tournament he has won three times.
That Challenge Tour debut win in August 2006 lifted Kaymer from 1249th in the world to 480th. Since then, his progress has been nothing short of stupendous. He finished 2006 in 164th place then made rapid progress to 76th (2007), 25th (2008), 13th (2009) and third at the end of 2010, the season in which he made his breakthrough and played in his first Ryder Cup.
Now Kaymer, who won the 2010 Race to Dubai, has moved to world number one in an almost natural way, with little apparent effort. The German golfer, at 26 years and nine weeks, becomes the second youngest player behind Woods (21 years and 24 weeks) to reach world number one.
Kaymer follows in the footsteps of illustrious colleagues such as Langer, Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam, Nick Faldo and Westwood, the only Europeans to have so far crowned the pinnacle of world golf.
Leave a Reply