ABU DHABI Three-time winner Martin Kaymer is confident a good start at the 2016 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship will give him the much-needed confidence for the new season ahead.
The former world No 1 and a two-time major champion will be eyeing a fourth title as he returns to the National Course for the January 21-24 event after having let slip a 10-shot lead last year to hand the title to Frenchman Gary Stal.
He speaks to XPRESS about the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and the big goal to win gold at Olympics as golf makes a return to the global competition in Rio de Janeiro for the first time since 1904.
How excited are you coming to Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship?
I’m always excited to start my season in Abu Dhabi and have done so for the last nine years. I feel extremely comfortable with the National Course and the country. Having won here on three occasions, I have some amazing memories of the place. My win here in 2008 was my first ever on the European Tour and that gave me a lot of confidence. I learnt I could compete with the best players in Europe and that helped me kick off my career.
With a strong contingent of players at the Abu Dhabi championship, the field looks to be a real challenge.
HSBC do an amazing job in securing one of the best fields of the European Tour season and this year looks to be as good as any we have seen before. To have the likes of Jordan (Spieth) and Rickie (Fowler) coming over from America says a lot about the quality of the event and where it stands on the world stage now. I’ll be doing everything I can to get my hands on that Falcon trophy for a fourth time.
Last year turned out to be a disaster as you lost from a 10-shot lead. Will that play on your mind and add to the pressure?
I won’t let last year play on my mind too much because I have played a lot of good golf here. At the time I was obviously a little shocked and surprised but I still took a lot of positives from the week and I barely missed a fairway in the first three rounds.
Abu Dhabi has been one of your favourite hunting grounds and that which kick-started your career. How special is this tournament?
It is always great to win and I have some very special memories from playing here over the past nine years of my career. The event is always well organised and year-on-year has a world class field which helps to make the tournament so competitive. Personally, I think the championship is truly one of the best tournaments on the European Tour calendar and I am proud that I have been able to lift the Falcon trophy on three occasions – all of which felt very different. My first win here gave me a lot of belief that I belonged on the Tour whilst my second win in 2010 taught me a lot about myself and the importance of sticking to my naturally aggressive style of play.
My third and most recent win came in 2011 and I remember it just as fondly as my first. It was, and probably remains, the best four days of golf I have ever played, I only made one bogey during the week and felt as if nothing could go wrong.
How important is Abu Dhabi event in preparation to the new season?
I’ve started my season here every year since being a European Tour member and it definitely helps to shape my season. Not only is the course always in immaculate condition, the competition is always so tough so you get to test yourself against the best players in the world and see where you measure after a long Christmas break.
Olympics must be a special event in your calendar?
2016 is going to be a massive year for golf and I was excited when I heard that it was coming back to the Olympics, having been away for some time. My main goal this year is to win an Olympic gold and if I were lucky enough to do so for Germany and be able to be a part of history and take it back home with me, for my country, I’d be extremely happy.
