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THE ABU DHABI GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPJanuary 13, 2009Martin KaymerABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES MICHAEL GIBBONS: Welcome back to the Abu Dhabi Championship. If you can start us off with memories of last year and what it meant to you to win here, and we'll go from there. MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, that was my first win on The European Tour last year, so that's always very special. I think it was a big event, and I won the first tournament of the year; that gave me a lot of motivation for the rest of the season. When I finished second in Dubai two weeks later, that was awesome. It put me in a really a good position in the World Rankings, which put me in the tournament, the World Golf Championships event and a few majors, so that was nice. Yeah, the win over here was very important to me, especially early in my career, that I could win a tournament. MICHAEL GIBBONS: How about your preparations for this season, how are they coming along? MARTIN KAYMER: Very, very similar to last year. I had a good experience last year, so I was trying to stick to my preparations. I went to America again for five or six weeks preparing for the first three weeks in the Middle East. I tried to keep it very similar than last year. Q. Was it disappointing, after the start that you had to the season, that you could not make it to The Ryder Cup Team, and do you take it as a motivation? MARTIN KAYMER: I think, yeah, I was very, very focused and finally, I didn't make it. I think it was great for me that I still went there; that Nick Faldo, he gave me a call and invited me to go there as a special guest, and that was great for me. If I'm honest, I was not really sure I was ready for The Ryder Cup, but now I know what's going on there and what's coming up to me, and if I'm playing in two or four years, so I know what to expect and I can prepare for that and be ready. So I know what I can expect in two or four years, and that was good for me. Q. What did you learn, specifically, from that Ryder Cup experience? And obviously the committee is meeting tonight; if you had a vote, who would you vote to be the next captain? MARTIN KAYMER: First answer, I think the most important thing was to see the things besides golf. There's so much more going on than golf. Actually, the players have to do so much stuff besides playing the golf course: So much media, so many photos, so many autographs. So I didn't really expect that, and that is what I learned. It was very nice for me to see how the great players, how they are exacting and behaving under pressure. Q. And if you had to pick a captain tonight? MARTIN KAYMER: I met Olazábal at The Ryder Cup and at Spain last year, and I think he did a really, really good job; how he talked to the players. The team spirit was very, very good because of him, and obviously because of Nick Faldo, as well. But I think he did a really good job, Olazábal, so I would like to see him as a Ryder Cup Captain in two years. Q. What specifically was it that he did? MARTIN KAYMER: His speeches were very emotional and very powerful. I think that is what the Europeans need, and he did it very, very well. Q. Some of the players said they were quite close to tears on the Saturday night; do you remember that? MARTIN KAYMER: Oh, yeah. Q. Were you moved almost to tears, as well? MARTIN KAYMER: It's very special. It's quite tough to explain, but how he talks, his words, the sentences he put together. It's very, very special, and it's very emotional, yeah. Q. What made the course so suitable for your game a year ago, and what in particular do you like about it? MARTIN KAYMER: Well, that's a tough question. I think the most important here was last year that you placed the ball in the fairway all the time, because the rough was quite thick. My driving was very, very well last year and I made a few putts, for the first three rounds; the fourth round was a little bit different. I think my putting and driving was very well, and that was most important here, and it was the same in Dubai where I played well. I think that was the key to the success. Q. Has anything changed this year, equipment or technique, anything that you will be doing differently this year? MARTIN KAYMER: This winter I was trying to make my swing a little bit shorter and a little bit more compact and my lower half like a little bit more stable, and I was working really hard on my short game. I could see from many statistics I was struggling with my short game last year, especially my putting, and I could really see that when I was playing in America; the most important, is the short game, especially the majors and the World Golf Championships where I played very poorly last year. Yeah, that's what I was working on in the winter. Q. How long have you been here, and is there any pressure as the defending champion? No one has won this back-to-back. Any pressure being here as the defending champion? MARTIN KAYMER: I came in on Sunday night, so I'm here since three days now, almost three days. I just got my luggage in the morning, my luggage got lost, so it's good. I got my golf clubs when I arrived, so that's most important. I am trying my very best. Maybe some people say that I have to win or whatever, or somebody is expecting that I should win the tournament again, because I played so well last year. But it's always tough to say if I played well or not. I had such a long break now, four or five or six weeks, I didn't play any tournaments, and I was just practicing. So it's always that you don't really know how the first or the second day is. So I will just get into the first day with -- yeah, I have confidence. Of course, I played very good last year, and I feel like I can play well and hit the ball good. I'm not expecting too much on Thursday, but obviously I will try my very best and see where I'm ending up. Q. I would imagine that you approach the new season with a great sense of excitement after what you achieved last year. Can you talk about your expectations for the coming year? MARTIN KAYMER: I think, yeah, I had a really good year last year with the two wins, a few times finishing in the Top-10. I think it's quite tough to continue that. But my goal is definitely to play better in America. I missed two cuts at the majors last year, and that was not that good, and I played really, really bad in the World Golf Championships, but that is -- I think that's kind of a an experience thing. That was the first time that I played in America, and it was only my second season on the Tour. Everything was very new. But I'm trying to win more tournaments on The European Tour, that is my goal. I think I finished top 25 in the world last year so it would be nice if I could finish top 20 in the world next year. These are a few goals that I have. Q. Now, 12 months ago, getting off the plane in Abu Dhabi, does that rekindle any special memories for you? MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, that was very special when I came to the golf club yesterday. I was a little surprised about the changes that they did there around the putting green. Unfortunately the nice putting green is gone. I really liked that. And you can see the hotel there and where we are probably staying in two years. I played only nine holes yesterday, the back nine, and it was nice to walk down 18 yesterday. It was a very special moment for me last year. And yeah, I had a good experience, and I still had that in mind and it was very nice to see. That was my first win, and I know all of the feelings of how I felt last year. It was pretty cool. Q. Last year, you told us about your brother giving you a few tips, are they still doing that? MARTIN KAYMER: My brother he has been supporting me my whole life, so he's always there since many, many years. That's why I'm here, as well, because he helped me so much. And Fanny, she plays a very special role in my career, or my golf life, because she prepares me very well for tournaments and I can talk to her about different things in life, as well. So she's very important to me; not only for golf, but my private life, as well, so she plays a very important role. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Martin, thanks for joining us. Good luck this week. End of FastScripts |
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