All Square has spoken to Martin Kaymer on the eve of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. The German has won this tournament on three occasions, in 2008, 2010 and 2011.
You’ve had some great performances in Abu Dhabi. Are you excited to kick off the 2020 season at a course you’ve had this much success on?
Abu Dhabi has always been a special place for me since my first win here. It was my first win on the European Tour. It’s nice to come back to a golf course with such good memories. Lots of birdies have happened here in the past. I’m very excited to come back and win it again.
What is your favourite course in Abu Dhabi?
Definitely where we play the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
What do you enjoy most in your off-time in Abu Dhabi?
I don’t really do much because I like to focus on the golf tournament. There’s not much rest in between practice and tournament rounds, so I go to the gym and do my usual stuff to prepare myself for Thursday.
Any new equipment in your bag this year?
The driver is new and the putter is still fairly new. I didn’t change much with the putter, just the lie angle. But the driver is a new model from TaylorMade that they released a couple of weeks ago.
(Martin changed to the new TaylorMade Sim driver and 3-wood but kept the same shafts. He also changed his wedge to the TaylorMade Milled Grind 2 Chrome).
You had a good performance at the Rio Olympics (T-15). How much importance will you put on going to Tokyo this year?
The Olympic games has always been a goal for me in the past. Fortunately I could play in Rio, and now I know exactly what to do and expect in Tokyo. I’m sure they are going to prepare and organise everything in Japan the way it should be. So I’m very excited to go and represent German golf and Germany in general.
You won the PGA Championship in Whistling Straits where the Ryder Cup will be held this year. Is it an extra motivation for you to get selected?
When I won at Whistling Straits it was a very special win. To win your first Major on such an iconic golf course is an amazing feeling. Now knowing the Ryder Cup will be there, it does give me an extra motivation to make it. Even when I played the PGA Championship there in 2015, I had very good success. I finished in the top 10, so it will be really nice to play in an even bigger tournament such as the Ryder Cup on that golf course.
What tournament are you looking forward to most this year?
It’s actually a tournament that I’m not qualified for yet, The Open. It’s the one I always wanted to win. So let’s hope I qualify and give myself a chance on Sunday.
