Kaymer Endures Lengthy Bad-Weather Delay & Wins Players Championship


Surviving a nearly two-hour thunderstorm delay and a double-bogey on his first hole once play resumed, Martin Kaymer held on to win the Players Championship on Sunday. Golf's so-called "fifth major" took place at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

The final round was halted at 5:39 p.m. ET as thunderstorms roared through the area. Thanks to three birdies through 14 holes, Kaymer was at 15-under and three shots clear of Jim Furyk, who polished off a 6-under 66 to reach 12-under 276.

But when play resumed at 7:15, the 29-year-old German pull-hooked his drive behind a tree in the pine straw on the 15th, yanked his second, dropped his third into a greenside bunker, and ended up double-bogeying the par-4 to fall just a shot ahead of Furyk.

After a disappointing par on the par-5 16th, Kaymer came to the iconic island green at the 17th, with its traditional Sunday pin placement at the far-right corner near the water. With some unfortunate luck, his gap wedge tee shot hit the wrong side of a ridge in the putting surface and spun back to the left nearly off the green into the water.

Faced with a near-impossible chip, Kaymer hit his second halfway to the cup. Remarkably, he made a 29-foot par putt that broke six feet to maintain his one-stroke edge over Furyk.

After blistering his drive on the par-4 18th, Kaymer - needing a par for the win - came up short on his approach. The 2010 PGA champion and former No. 1 putted to four feet and then slammed his par attempt home for his first victory since his the WGC-HSBC Champions in 2011.

About his struggles following the rain delay, Kaymer said during a TV interview in the near-darkness, "It is always very difficult to come back after a little break. Obviously you see the leaderboard, you see where you are. When you are playing the first 14 holes, you just keep going and I played really, really well.

"And then you are really disappointed when they called it, and obviously there was a reason for it. And then you are a little cold. I made a couple of wrong decisions on 15. You give yourself a chance for par. You don't need to be that aggressive and try to go for it. And then on 16, you've got to chip it. It was not the right decision. But a big putt on 17."

The win was worth $1.8 million and 600 FedEx Cup points. Kaymer now has 11 wins combined on the PGA and European tours.

Furyk had a chance for birdie on the 18th but just missed his putt, tapping in for par and a 6-under 66. "I would have loved to have made that birdie putt on 18 and put a little more heat on the leader. It would mean a lot to me from a golf standpoint," said the 43-year-old, who lives in the area.

"As I said it always has been a golf course that I feel is awkward. It sets up awkward for me. I am not comfortable on a lot of tee shots. I am not comfortable on iron shots. I felt like I played it very aggressively off the tee this week which helped.

"From a personal standpoint, I have a lot of friends and family out there pulling for me. This is a community that we live in and love and we have had so much support here, so it would mean a lot to one day win here."

Sergio Garcia closed with a 70 to take third place at 11-under 277, while another stroke back were Justin Rose (69) and Jordan Spieth, who began the final round tied for the lead with Kaymer but closed with a 74.

On Saturday evening, the PGA Tour assessed Rose a two-stroke penalty for an apparent oscillation - observable in detailed video replay - of his ball on the 18th hole in the third round. But in an overnight decision, the Tour rescinded the penalty - sending the Brit from 5-under back to 7-under - under the revised Rule 18/4.

The rule states: "When the player's ball has left its original position and come to rest in another place by an amount that was not reasonably discernible to the naked eye at the time, a player's determination that the ball has not moved will be deemed to be conclusive, even if that determination is later shown to be incorrect through the use of sophisticated technology."

Tied for sixth at 9-under were American Jimmy Walker (65), Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy (66), Canada's David Hearn (70), England's Lee Westwood (70) and Italian Francesco Molinari (70).

For all the scores, visit http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html.