Martin Kaymer’s victory in numbers
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The numbers behind Martin Kaymer’s epic victory at Pinehurst are staggering. Here are some of the more fascinating facts from the USGA’s stats man – and enjoy our gallery images of his victory:
Martin Kaymer’s eight-stroke victory is tied for the fourth-largest margin of victory in U.S. Open history. Tiger Woods (2000, 15 strokes), Willie Smith (1899, 11 strokes) and James Barnes (1921, nine strokes) are the only players with larger winning margins. Kaymer’s total ties Rory McIlroy’s eight-stroke victory in 2011.
Kaymer’s eight-stroke victory in the 2014 U.S. Open is tied for the ninth-largest margin of victory in major championship history.
Martin Kaymer’s 72-hole total of 271 is the second-lowest score in U.S. Open history. Rory McIlroy’s 268 at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional is the lowest.
Kaymer’s 9-under-par score ranks behind only Rory McIlroy (2011, 16 under) and Tiger Woods (2000, 12 under) for most strokes under par in a U.S. Open.
He is the first German to win a U.S. Open. Kaymer is the second German to win a major championship, having previously won the 2010 PGA Championship to join Bernard Langer, winner of the 1985 and 1993 Masters.
He is the first player from continental Europe to win the U.S. Open.
Kaymer is the first player to win both the U.S. Open and The Players Championship in the same year.
He is the 34th foreign-born U.S. Open champion. Eight of the last 11 U.S. Open winners are foreign-born: Retief Goosen (2004), Michael Campbell (2005), Geoff Ogilvy (2006), Angel Cabrera (2007), Graeme McDowell (2010), Rory McIlroy (2011), Justin Rose (2013) and Kaymer (2014).
Kaymer is the eighth U.S. Open champion who led start-to-finish with no ties. Walter Hagen (1914), James Barnes (1921), Ben Hogan (1953), Tony Jacklin (1970), Tiger Woods (2000, 2002) and Rory McIlroy (2011) are the others.
Martin Kaymer also won start-to-finish at the 2014 Players Championship.
He is the 18th player to have won both the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship.
Martin Kaymer has won on six out of seven occasions when he has held the 54-hole lead in PGA Tour and PGA European Tour tournaments.
Kaymer is just the third 54-hole leader to win the U.S. Open in the last 10 years. Rory McIlroy (2011) and Tiger Woods (2008) are the others.
The 2014 championship came in Martin Kaymer’s seventh U.S. Open appearance. His best previous finish was a T-8 in 2010 at Pebble Beach. He had never previously broken par for 72 holes in a U.S. Open.
