Kaymer confirms star status at BMW
BY Bruce Young | European PGA Tour | 2008 BMW International Open | Round Four | 23 Jun 2008
22-year-old German golfer, Martin Kaymer, rallied late in his round to defeat Anders Hansen at the first extra hole of a playoff to win the €2,000,000 BMW International at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried in Munich.
Kaymer birdied the first extra hole after two excellent shots and a two putt at the par five while Hansen battled his way to a bogey to hand Kaymer his second title of the season after earlier success in Abu Dhabi and confirmed the accolades he received as 2007 Rookie of the Year following a stunning year on the Challenge Tour in 2006.
Kaymer led by a massive six shots into the final round but he struggled through the front nine and then took a near disastrous triple bogey at the 11th after finding the water twice and slipped back to share the lead with Hansen and England’s John Bickerton, who had made a big move from back in the field.
Bickerton was playing over an hour ahead of Kaymer and was unable to add the extra birdies over the closing stages he would need to post a score sufficient to challenge those behind. It was left to Kaymer and Hansen fight it out.
Kaymer was able to recover from his disaster at the 11th and birdie the 13th and 18th and catch Hansen who twenty minutes ahead of Kaymer had birdied the 15th and 18th to finish at 15 under.
Bickerton shared 3rd with Paul Casey and Mark Foster, two shots behind the playoff.
The best of the Australasians was Peter O’Malley who opened with a 66 and shared the lead but eventually finished 24th while Gareth Paddison was 48th, Peter Fowler 52nd and Mark Brown 64th.
The European Tour now travels across the border to France for the lucrative French Open in Paris.