Maiden victory for Kaymer in Abu Dhabi
Martin Kaymer claimed his first victory on the European Tour with an impressive performance in the Abu Dhabi Championship.
Martin Kaymer held on to win the Abu Dhabi Championship after three fantastic rounds gave him a six-shot lead going into the final day.
The German faced stiff competition from Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson on Sunday but stayed calm and came back in 35 shots to win by four.
Kaymer took a commanding lead into the final day after producing rounds of 66, 65 and 68. The 2007 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year looked nervous early on in the final round and made three consecutive bogeys. Lee Westwood birdied the first two holes and by the turn Kaymer's lead was reduced to two shots.
The 23-year-old calmed his nerves with a birdie at the 10th and from then on never looked like relinquishing his lead.
?It feels unbelievable to win on my second season on tour,? said Kaymer. ?I was a little nervous on the first nine holes but I feel like I handled the back nine well.?
Stenson and Westwood finished tied for second place on 11-under after final rounds of 71 and 70 respectively. Englishman Richard Finch continued his fantastic start to the season, finishing tied for fourth with Ignacio Garrido and Peter Hedblom.
Abu Dhabi Golf Championship
Subscribe to the Golf Monthly newsletter to stay up to date with all the latest tour news, equipment news, reviews, head-to-heads and buyer’s guides from our team of experienced experts.
-15 M Kaymer (Ger)
-11 H Stenson (Swe), L Westwood (Eng)
-10 R Finch (Eng), I Garrido (Spa), P Hedblom (Swe)
-9 J Kingston (SA), S Strange (Aus)