Martin Kaymer stings Jim Furyk again

The last time

Martin Kaymer

struck a putt that stung

Jim Furyk

, his ball travelled six feet in a mostly straight line and clinched Europe’s 2012 Ryder Cup victory against the United States outside Chicago. On Sunday at the

Players Championship

, Kaymer again doused Furyk’s celebration.

With darkness closing in, Kaymer saved par at the par-three 17th with a 29-foot putt that broke a few feet, and drained a three-footer for par at the 18th for a one-under-par 71 and a 72-hole total of 13-under 275.

Kaymer finished a stroke ahead of Furyk, who closed with a 66 for his second consecutive runner-up finish. “What a putt on 17,” Kaymer said. “I mean, it was very, very tough to read because it was already very dark. But I don’t care anymore, it went in.” He laughed.

Furyk had just missed an 18-foot birdie putt when an electrical storm caused a suspension of play for more than an hour. When the round resumed, Furyk made his three-footer for par to stay three strokes behind Kaymer, who was 15 under with four holes left.

Stroke behind
Before Furyk could work his way to the clubhouse, he had moved to a stroke behind the lead after Kaymer made a double bogey on the par-four 15th.

“I hung it all out there today and every clich? you can think of,” said Furyk, who also finished second the week before at the Wells Fargo Championship. “I played hard today. I played really well.”

Kaymer had no top-10 finishes in 2014, but with the tournament on the line, he summoned his sweetest golf memory. “Walking up on the 18th toward the 18th green, I thought a little bit about the Ryder Cup, how nice that feeling was, and that I’ve done it before,” Kaymer said, adding: “It’s never really easy if you’re trying to win a golf tournament.”

After Kaymer and Furyk, nine of the next 10 finishers were Americans or Europeans, making the tournament feel less like the fifth Major, as it is often described, than a preview for the Ryder Cup in September at Gleneagles Golf Club in Scotland. For the second straight day, Kaymer (29) played with the American Jordan Spieth, and he had reason to wonder if he was back at Medinah Country Club, so completely was the crowd against him.

First bogey
Kaymer probably will go to bed with the chant of "USA!" ringing in his ears. Spieth took the lead after making a birdie at the fourth, but his round began to unravel on the next hole when his drive landed left of the fairway and he made his first bogey in 59 holes.

He closed with a 71 to finish tied for fourth at 10 under with Justin Rose. Rose recorded a 69 after essentially gaining two strokes before he teed off. After his third-round 71, he was assessed a two-stroke penalty because a lengthy review, which included a picture from a high-definition camera, revealed his ball had moved behind the 18th green.

Rose’s 73 was changed back to a 71 on Sunday morning, after a further review determined he was not responsible for his ball’s movement according to a rule that took effect this year.

For the third time since March, Adam Scott, the world number two, was unable to capitalise on a chance to unseat Tiger Woods. If Scott had been able to duplicate his second-round 67, he would have finished inside the top 16 and moved to number one. He hit eight fairways and carded a 73.

Scott (33) wed his long-time girlfriend, Marie Kojzar, the week after the Masters. Had he chosen a honeymoon over golf this week, he would have become number one because of a calculation quirk.

"It's weird," said Scott, who will very likely go to number one next week, while idle. "I think you want to do it playing well and getting good results."
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