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Martin Kaymer Dominates the U.S. Open

by Jeff Skinner

us open logo 14Martin Kaymer continued his dominance over the field at the U.S. Open today in winning his second major championship by eight strokes. Kaymer wasn’t spectacular today but he had already been spectacular enough on Thursday and Friday.

Kaymer had ridden the lead he crafted with opening 65’s and it was a cushion that was insurmountable if he could just manage to stay out of trouble.

He did just that and a little more with his one under 69 comprised of four birdies and three bogeys. He did have his struggles with finding the fairway today hitting only fifty per cent.

But when he needed to make a shot to save par or stop from blowing up he did just that. His putter was key today and he seemed to sink every putt he needed to. He used only 26 putts today, four fewer than yesterday’s 72.

There wasn’t much drama as the day went on as his two closest contenders, Erik Compton and Rickie Fowler couldn’t mount any substantial charge and finished with two over 72’s.

Kaymer won the National Championship at -9 with a total of 271. Compton and Fowler finished tied for second at -1 and 279.

Some will bemoan the fact that this final round was anti-climatic as Kaymer was never really threatened. Kaymer’s dominance should be celebrated.

Kaymer played the course brilliantly on Thursday and Friday to get to a record 10 under par. No one was close 2014 U.S. Openand the only battle was for second place.

He executed his shots exquisitely but his course management may be where he won this tournament. He was rarely in trouble in the first two rounds and when he did get in trouble today he used that large lead to his advantage. He didn’t need to go for the hero shot. From the tee he played an aggressive round but from trouble he played conservatively and managed to avoid any big numbers.

Unfortunately, American golf fans won’t celebrate this victory and that’s a shame. If it was Tiger or Phil who had won here there were built in story lines that would have been tremendous. But if Rickie Fowler or Dustin Johnson had won here it would be hailed as an all time great win.

But it’s Martin Kaymer, he’s German and he’s not on twelve different commercials on the Golf Channel.

But he’s the 2014 U.S. Open Champion and a two time major winner with a PLAYERS Championship on his resume. Fred Couples got into the Hall of Fame with less.

Let’s not grumble about what didn’t happen let’s delight in what did. Martin Kaymer played a heck of a tournament and deserves to be praised as a worthy champion.

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