Martin KaymerPeter Dejong
VILAMOURA, Portugal -The pressure of being world number one, rather than swing remodelling, took the edge off Martin Kaymer's season, the German said on Wednesday.
Kaymer, 26, has dropped from number one to number six globally since he reached top spot in late February, but it was time demanded of him by media and fans at home that caused him to lose ground in the rankings, he said.
"It's true that I wanted to make some (swing) changes so I could play better at the (U.S.) Masters," Kaymer told reporters on the eve of the Portugal Masters at the Victoria club. "But that is not why my results have not been quite as good as I wanted them to be this year.
"To become number one in the world, if you are an American player, an English player, Spanish, it's probably a little easier than being a German. We only had Bernhard Langer, who was one of the best players in the world.
"He was the first number one in the world, so when I became number one it became big in Germany again. There were a lot of requests from people 'do this, do that'. I got invited to a lot of events - some you want to do, some you don't. It's all a bit overwhelming.
"After a few months you realise why you became number one. It was because of what you did on a driving range, not in a studio.
"But it was a learning process. If I become number one again then I know how to approach it."
Kaymer said he had no regrets in tinkering with his swing.
"I'm 26 and I want to improve. I didn't want to be playing for the next 25 years with the same swing," he said. "You don't go forward in your career if you just stay the same."
The German, lying fifth on Europe's Race to Dubai (money-list), is keen to prove to himself that his season has been another fruitful one - even if he cannot repeat the feat of last year when he was European number one.
"It may not be possible to catch Luke (Donald) in the Race to Dubai but there is always second or third," added Kaymer.