German Precision

Once Sunday dawned, the inevitable became the reality with no player able to inch any closer than four shots of Kaymer and even then, only briefly.

Kaymer capped off his command ball striking and putting performance by completing what is becoming a Pinehurst Open champion’s rite of passage: missing the 18th fairway to the right and being forced to pitch out, just as Payne Stewart (in 1999) and Michael Campbell (in 2005) had done before him.

Like Stewart, although with far less pressure, Kaymer holed a lengthy par putt to put the icing on the cake. Dogged double-heart transplant recipient Erik Compton and Kaymer’s playing partner Rickie Fowler finished in a tie for second, some considerable distance behind.

"I didn't make many mistakes," said Kaymer, after his four birdie, three bogey final round of 69 for 9-under total of 271. "The last two wins that I had in America, especially this week, I played very solid the first two days and that gave me a very nice cushion for the weekend.

"But to shoot only one-over-par at Pinehurst on Saturday and Sunday is good. The way I played I was very happy, the way I kept it together yesterday. And that gave me a good cushion for today."

Kaymer’s eight-stroke romp tied Ryder Cup teammate Rory McIlroy’s victory margin in 2011 when the Northern Irishman lapped the field at Congressional. Behind the pair of them in each year, a ‘helluva second flight’ was contested and the potential storylines in 2014 were plentiful: a first major for Fowler, Henrik Stenson, Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson; a true feel good story in Compton. Keegan Bradley tweeted on Sunday morning that "Eric [sic] Compton winning today would probably be the best story in the history of sports." He may not be wrong.

Sadly for them and for the second major in a row, there was nobody who would step up in the early stages on a windless afternoon to have Kaymer question his resolve - or even remotely glance into his rear vision mirror.