PINEHURST, N.C. — Martin Kaymer did not see this coming. Nor did anyone else.
A 5-under-par 65 on Pinehurst’s No. 2 Course in the U.S. Open first round? Not a chance.
Not with the famous turtle-back crowned greens — thirsty for moisture and fiery, ready to repel most approach shots — standing in the way.
Not with the freshly planted waste areas on either side of the fairways with unpredictable lies in the tricky sand and with wiry tufts of grass dotting the place like potholes on the Cross Bronx Expressway, poised to sabotage approach shots.
And certainly not from an afternoon tee time played in the heat of the day with the sun baking the place out with the heat index hovering around 100.
Yet there was Kaymer, closing out his brilliant round with birdies on three of the last five holes and a back-nine 31, finishing with 65 at about 7 p.m.
It was good for a three-shot lead over Graeme McDowell, Kevin Na, Brendon De Jonge and Fran Quinn and a four-shot lead over a large group at 1-under, including Henrik Stenson, Matt Kuchar, Jordan Spieth, Keegan Bradley and Dustin Johnson.
“I got asked [Wednesday] what score I would take for the whole week and I said 8-over par, so hopefully that’s not going to happen,’’ Kaymer said. “The golf course, I thought, played a little more difficult on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday [in practice rounds]. They must have put a little more water on the greens [Wednesday] night. I thought it was very playable. And even the afternoon, we could stop the ball fairly well on the greens.
“I just didn’t make many mistakes. I hit a lot of good golf shots.’’
Much the way he did last month when he won the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
Kaymer, the humble, soft-spoken German, also sounded after his round a lot like he did Players Championship week, halting any thoughts too far ahead.
“Well, it’s only the first round and usually the golf course only gets more difficult,’’ he said. “I think if you stay around level par, you can’t be that far away from winning the golf tournament. Even though I shot 5-under par now, which is obviously an exceptional score, it’s very nice to lead the tournament right now.’’
Kaymer, who hit 13-of-14 fairways, but only 11-of-18 greens, said his win at Sawgrass “made a big difference on the confidence level’’ even though he nearly blew a big lead after a weather delay that looked like it might postpone the end of the final round until the next morning.
Asked what the biggest thing was that took away from the Players Championship, Kaymer said, “The way I won.’’
“After the rain delay, for me the day was over,’’ he went on. “I didn’t think we were going to play again. So mentally I was out. I was already somewhere having sushi and planning when I was going to have to get up in the morning. And all of a sudden the referees came up and said we have to go out again, in 15, 20 minutes you have to be back in position.
“That was tough to get mentally back into that extreme position or situation. And obviously after the double bogey [on No. 15] it was quite an obvious wake up.’’
Kaymer, who had a three-shot lead with four holes to play before the 90-minute delay, had to make a twisting 30-foot par-save putt on the famous 17th hole to secure the victory — a win that ended an 0-for-29 tournament drought.
“The Players gave me a different status as a golf professional,’’ said Kaymer, who won the 2010 PGA Championship and elevated to the No. 1 ranking in the world. “[I got] a lot of respect from people, a lot of respect from the players.’’
Bradley, who played with Kaymer, called the round “an impressive round, one of the best rounds I’ve seen.’’
Kaymer opened the Players Championship with a 9-under-par 63 and proceeded to talk himself down from that, insisting it was an aberration. On Thursday, he did the same.
“I would never have expected myself to shoot such a low round in Pinehurst because of the conditions,’’ he said. “I wasn’t expecting it, but I’m not freaking out about it. It’s a good start, but that’s it. At the Players, the 9-under par is not normal. So no one should really expect me to shoot another 5-under par the next three rounds.
“I don’t.’’