HOYLAKE, England — There is not a player in the Open Championship field this week playing with more house money than Martin Kaymer.
Win, lose or miss the cut at Royal Liverpool, it doesn’t matter: Kaymer has had a career year — not to mention recently basking in the glow of victory by his home country, Germany, in the World Cup.
Kaymer, who is friends with several of the German footballers, said he watched them defeat Argentina in the final Sunday night with his caddie, Craig Connelly.
“It was probably the first moment in my career as an athlete where I was very, very proud to be a German athlete,’’ Kaymer said. “Not because of my own success. The win is one thing, that they won the World Cup, but I think the way they played football, the way they carried themselves, very grounded people … even after the win against Brazil, which was very unusual, that score (7-1), but they kept going and they had so much belief. “Even we Germans, we laughed a lot. All the values that we live for in Germany, they played football that way. So it’s a great inspiration for me as an athlete and I hope for a lot of the people in Germany.’’
“They played very brave. The planning was good. The people behind them. And then you see a whole country changing. It reminded me a little bit of when the World Cup was in Germany in 2006, it was so nice to see what sport can do to you.
Kaymer said he was in regular communication with some of the German players with whom he’s friends — several of whom play golf.
“Some of the players sent me some videos, how they were putting in the room,’’
Kaymer said. “When they were playing golf on the golf course, which was next door, [doing] some chipping on the beach. And it was after I won the U.S. Open, which was very nice, Thomas Mueller, he had an interview, and it was one of the first things that he said, ‘It was a very nice way to start the World Cup, because Martin Kaymer, he won the U.S. Open.’ ’’
Kaymer said when he is back in Munich he gets together with some of the players from the German national team and “we compare our sports.’’
“I think we can learn from each other a lot about how to treat certain situations in the media, the expectations in Germany or worldwide,’’ Kaymer said. “So I always learn a lot. And fitness-wise we help each other, or at least they help me.’’
Kaymer said he learned patience from the German national team, something he credited for his wins at the Players Championship and the U.S. Open.
“Don’t make any silly mistakes and wait,’’ Kaymer said. “That’s all you can do. Every team had a bad day here and there. Germany, they didn’t play great against, I think it was America, but they still got away with it. And that’s the same in the golf tournament. You have a day where you don’t play that super good, but you hang in there and you play something around par that doesn’t get you out of the tournament.
“Then you wait for that amazing day, that [the Germans] had against Brazil. So at the U.S. Open I had two of those, the first two days, it was fairly lucky. At The Players I had the first day where I shot 9-under par. That was that special day that they had against Brazil.’’
Justin Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champ and winner of his last two tournaments in recent weeks, is targeting the No. 1 world ranking this week.
“I am assuming if I did win this week I’d go to No. 1,’’ Rose, who’s No. 2, said. “I’ve always focused more on winning major championships, or that the goal or striving to, than chasing No. 1. I think that’s just a really nice by-product of your process and improving as a golfer. So… If it happens, it happens.’’
Englishman Ian Poulter has had some strong finishes at Opens, tying for third last year, ninth in 2013 and second in 2008. But he missed the cut in 2006, the last time the Open was at Hoylake.
Asked how he deals with missed cuts, Poulter said: “I’ve erased all of them. I really don’t pay any attention to missed cuts. I get rid of them. I don’t like them. I detest them, and I erase them. Honestly, there’s no good coming out of 2006. So … I really don’t need to waste any of my brain cells thinking back to a bad week.’’
Tiger Woods, who has not won a major championship since 2008 and has been stuck on 14 in his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18, was asked if it is more difficult for him to win a major now than it was eight years ago.
“I think it gets harder every year, just because the fields get deeper,’’ Woods said.
“[There are] more guys with a chance to win. It’s just getting deeper. It’s getting harder to win.The margin is so much smaller. It’s only going to continue to be the case. Guys are going to get longer, they’re going to get faster. Guys who are coming out here are bigger, stronger, faster, more athletic. “When I first came out here in ’97, I think I averaged somewhere just under 300 yards [driving]. I walked around with Gary Woodland on Sunday and he said, ‘Yeah, I finally found a driver and a ball I can hit 320 again in the air.’ Yeah, in the air. So the game has changed a lot since then.’’