Martin Kaymer wants PGA win to propel him into Ryder Cup team
By Keith Jackson
Last Updated: 29/07/16 8:36pm
Martin Kaymer has set his sights on a third major title which would guarantee him a place in Europe's Ryder Cup team after a hard-fought 69 left him firmly in contention at the halfway stage of the PGA Championship.
Leaderboard
Kaymer battled back from a poor start to get back under the card for the day, and he briefly held the clubhouse lead on five under until he was surpassed by Open champion Henrik Stenson.
The 2010 champion blocked his opening tee shot into water at the first and did well to salvage a bogey before play was suspended for 45 minutes due to heavy rain waterlogging the Baltusrol course.
He also bogeyed the third on the resumption before converting a pure tee shot to eight feet at the next, but he slipped back to two under for the tournament when he flew the green with his approach to the 10th and could not get up and down.
But he holed excellent putts from just inside 20 feet on both the 15th and 16th greens, and a sublime pitch to a couple of feet at the last set up his third birdie in the last four holes.
"I started not the way I wanted, even though it was very tough today," said the German. "But I knew I didn't need to worry too much. I hit the ball fairly solid and it was just a matter of time that I created birdie chances, and they came. I couldn't make all of them, obviously, but in the end it was very important for me to finish the way I did.
"I think I placed myself in a very good spot, and who knows where the leader is going to be by the end of the day? I shot a good score yesterday, a very good round today. So it's a good position to be in in a major championship."
Kaymer has not won since cruising to a record-breaking eight-shot victory in the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst, but he is relishing the chance to contend over the weekend and hopes the a win will book his place at Hazeltine in September.
Asked what a win would mean to him, he said: "For sure I would make the Ryder Cup team, which would be huge. I really would love to be part of that. On the other hand, of course you would like to win all four majors. I know how much satisfaction it gives you, it's massive. That's the ultimate that we play for."
Kaymer was also surprised that play got underway on time despite persistent overnight rain that continued well into the morning and eventually forced officials to halt play for a huge mopping up operation.
"It's something that you think 'why they did that?', because there's plenty of daylight today," he added. "I think we could have all started by 9am or so and we would have been all fine.
"It would have been also a little bit more fair for the guys who teed off at 7am. They almost played nine holes in the rain, but now it's perfect to play golf. So to keep it really fair, I think the guys who played even now or earlier than me, I think that has a little bit of a disadvantage."
