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Kaymer makes it look simple at Memorial

3 min read

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Two-time major champion Martin Kaymer is tied for the lead going into the weekend at the Memorial, and whether he wins is not what drives him.

He knows his game is close enough that he can.

Kaymer kept it simple Friday with birdies on all the par 5s, a tee shot to 10 feet on a dangerous right pin at the par-3 12th and a bogey on his final hole at Muirfield Village for a 4-under 68 that gave him a share of the lead with Troy Merritt (66) and Kyoung-Hoon Lee (67).

They were at 9-under 135.

Jordan Spieth had a 70 and was another shot behind.

Tiger Woods had a chance to be a lot closer to the mix than seven shots except for the par-5 15th. He was in the shaggy rough on a hill above the green in two, and took five to get down for a double bogey. Woods had to settle for a 72.

“I just wasn’t able to get anything really going,” Woods said.

Kaymer is coming up on the five-year anniversary of his last win, and that wasn’t just any victory. He demolished the field at Pinehurst No. 2 for an eight-shot victory, this coming one month after he beat the strongest and deepest field in golf at The Players Championship.

And then he was gone.

“I distract myself,” Kaymer said. “I listen too much to other people, and also a bit of belief. Sometimes, you would think I won so many big tournaments I should have so much belief in myself that I can win any week. … The last two years, I was just not there. I just didn’t believe that I could win the tournament I’m playing.”

He recently got off social media because he found no value except for gossip, innuendo and otherwise useless information. He was reminded of why that was such a smart move when he stopped for coffee Tuesday morning and stood in line between a half-dozen people, all staring at their phones.

“It’s just distraction, stimulation for your brain, just not thinking, not being there,” he said.

Haney suspended: Swing coach Hank Haney has been suspended from the SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio channel for disparaging comments about the LPGA Tour, and Tiger Woods says he had it coming.

Haney said on his radio show that a Korean probably would win the U.S. Women’s Open and that he couldn’t name six players on the LPGA Tour. He then said he would with “Lee,” and if he didn’t have to mention a first name, “I’d get a bunch of them right.”

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