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ROCHESTER, NY — Martin Kaymer says he doesn’t think he can run for three straight championships. So it skips the one in the middle.
It is also a PGA Championship, where he won his first two major championships in 13 years.
The announcement of Kaymer’s withdrawal from the PGA of America came Friday afternoon, six days before the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club. Notably, Friday was also the first day of the LIV Golf event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Kaymer was playing as a member of the series. Kaymer also plans to star in the upcoming Saudi-backed series, which is scheduled to take place next week in Washington, DC
All of this begs the question: why miss a major?
Friday, In an interview with Mike McAllisterKaymer, managing editor at LIV Golf, said he was still recovering from surgery on his left wrist he had last November — and that he didn’t have the “mindset that I can win a golf tournament.” Kaymer missed the first three events at LIV this year, and played the last three, finishing 46th out of 48 players in the middle of last month in Australia; 44th place out of 48 at the end of last month in Singapore; and 41 out of 48 in Tulsa.
Here is the full quote from Kaymer, which McAllister tweeted on Friday night:
“I’ve talked to my manager about it, and I don’t know if he actually pulled me or not. I don’t think I’ll be able to play for three straight weeks after surgery. Obviously I’m playing this week and I’d like to play in Washington too. So I’ve been thinking about That, to skip the PGA Championship.
“I didn’t say 100 percent to my manager. I don’t know what he did, but I don’t think he got me out yet.
“I’m playing well. It’s just a matter of I want to go there with the mentality that I can win a golf tournament. I don’t have that yet. I haven’t practiced at all for the last six months. I’ve only been hitting and chipping and only golfing putts during the tournament. So. So That’s enough to beat the best players in the world.”
Could Kaymer have skipped Tulsa or Washington? unclear.
In particular, in story of Wall Street Journal Last August that examined contracts for LIV golfers, players were expected to play in all LIV events. (There were eight last year, and 14 this year.) The story also stated that LIV players would receive a $1 million bonus if they won a major tournament.
Kaymer’s replacement on the field is Callum Tarren. The former world number one is one of three players to withdraw – Jason Dufner, who won his last home league title in Oak Hill, withdrew on Friday, being replaced by David Lingmerth; And John Daly, the 1991 PGA Champion, WD’d on Monday, and Stefan Jaeger took his place.