German former world No.1 and 2010 US PGA Championship winner Martin Kaymer has re-entered the top echelon of golf by taking out the lucrative Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in dramatic fashion.
Kaymer ultimately carded a one-under 71 final round to finish 13-under for the championship and win by one over American Jim Furyk, but not before he faced a nervous finish.
The 29-year-old was cruising at the top with a three-shot lead and just five holes to left when dangerous weather halted play for 93 minutes, taking away his momentum.
Upon resumption he made a double bogey on the 15th hole to drop his lead to one.
Facing another bogey when leaving his chip 28 feet short of the hole he stepped up and made the huge curling putt for a clutch par, preserving his cushion.
A par on the last was enough to earn a $US1.8 million ($A1.95 million) winner’s cheque and a five-year exemption on the US tour.
He also claims a three-year exemption into the Masters, US Open and British Open and is projected to jump from No.62 to No.27 in the world.
“This is a very special win for me,” Kaymer said.
Furyk’s final round 66 left him at 12-under in second place.
Spain’s Sergio Garcia (70) took third at 11-under while 20-year-old Jordan Spieth, who started the final round tied with Kaymer in the lead, struggled to a two-over 74 to join England’s Justin Rose (69) in fourth at 10-under.
Australian Adam Scott’s quest for world No.1 failed for at least another week after his one-over 73 left him tied 38th, well short of the top-16 finish he needed to replace the injured Tiger Woods.
“Overall this week I just didn’t play good enough,” Scott said.
“The course was demanding even though the greens were receptive it still had a lot of long rough and I found plenty of it. “I was lucky to even make the weekend. Today I played from the rough and it’s impossible to play this course out of position so I battled all day.”
Matt Jones, who started tied fifth and just four off the lead, claimed top Australian honours but struggled to be two-over on Sunday to drop to six-under and a tie for 17th.
“I just didn’t hit it good enough today. I knew going into the round I didn’t warm up very well and I knew it would be a battle,” Jones said.
“Days like that eventually catch up with you and it did on (holes) 10, 11 and 12.
“I played very good for three days, I just played bad today and I know with a good round today it could have been a whole different story so I’ll go away with some positives.”
John Senden, who was third and just three off the lead, struggled to a five-over 77 and dropped to a tie for 26th.
Marc Leishman (67) joined Senden at five-under, while Steven Bowditch finished his debut at the event at one-under and tied for 48th.
Geoff Ogilvy struggled to a final round 78 to drop to 69th place.
