Calamity for Kaymer as he falls short again

MARTIN KAYMER’S long wait for a win incorporated another painfully close call yesterday and with it the gremlins are surely growing in his mind about how he might ever take that final step. It is likely to be of limited comfort to the German that in each of the past two Sundays, at the Belfry for the UK Championship eight days ago and then at the Andalucia

Masters, he has led events with five holes to play. The irritation as he reflects this morning will concern his failure to win either, and indeed he has not won anywhere in the world since his 23rd professional victory at the US Open six years ago. For a former world No 1 with his talent, it is an astonishing drought, extended in the latest instance by the American John Catlin on a tough Valderrama course. Catlin won by one stroke on two-over par to take his first European Tour crown, but there were enough wobbles in Kaymer’s closing stretch to view this as a missed opportunity. He had led for one hole after Catlin bogeyed 14, but gave the stroke back at 15 and then bogeyed the last after leaving his par chip one inch short. A short missed putt at 17 was particularly expensive. Kaymer said: ‘It’s challenging to see the positives at the moment after these last couple of holes. I guess at the end of the day it’s the second week in a row contending with four consistent rounds on a very difficult course.’ For Catlin, his most prominent taste of attention before yesterday came last month when he was withdrawn from the English Championship for breaching Covid-19 protocol. Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy opened his third round at the Tour Championship with a birdie to sit only four shots behind leader Dustin Johnson. He was on nine under through four holes while a dropped shot at the first put Tyrrell Hatton at eight under. PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW