Kaymer seals dramatic win

The European Tour witnessed a surprisingly exciting finish to the BMW International Open in Munich - I say 'surprisingly' because in most people's eyes it was all over after round three!!

But in golf you can never be sure until the final putt is holed and the scorecard is signed and this was the case in Munich.

The new German superstar, 23-year-old Martin Kaymer seemed to have an unassailable six-shot lead going into the final round. He was at the top of his game, completely in control, miles ahead - but pressure can do strange things to even the best players.

After a stuttering start to round four, Kaymer reached the par 5 11th with a reduced lead, when disaster struck. Two visits to the water later, he left the green carding a triple-bogey 8 and was suddenly behind.

It was a simple course management error that led to him racking up the score. With a difficult lie and 236 yards across water to the green, a mental error, a surge of adrenaline, whatever it was, he picked the wrong shot and it so nearly cost him the tournament.

We've all done it - "I can make it, if I can get there in two...." Sometimes it pays off, but most of the time it ends in tears. Especially in competitions, play the percentages, there is more than one way to make a birdie, take the big numbers out of play.

Kaymer managed to recover his composure and after a birdie on the 72nd hole, he managed to secure victory at the first extra hole over Anders Hansen.

He is a star in the making and that victory, which he dedicated to his seriously ill mother, virtually guarantees his place in the Ryder Cup this coming September. His name is certainly one to watch out for in the coming months.

The Scoring Game - The art of getting up & down

This week I am continuing my series about the Scoring Game and the vital components that can help improve anybody's golf game. We all miss greens with our approaches from time to time, some, it has to be said, more than others.

The ability to get up and down can be the difference between keeping the momentum going and building up our confidence, or the head going down and an average score turning very quickly into a very bad day at the office.

During last week's article I talked about the recent US Open Championship at Torrey Pines in California. One person that I didn't mention during that piece was the man who finished just one shot behind the playoff group - Englishman Lee Westwood.

Westwood is currently enjoying a major improvement in his form and is rapidly climbing back up the world rankings to where a man of his undoubted talent deserves to be. Back in 2001, having just won seven tournaments in a season and ranked No. 4 in the world, Lee was Europe's number one player. His ball striking was as good as anybody in world golf, and he wanted to take his game to the next level in order to win a 'major'. Unfortunately for Westwood, he focused on the wrong part of his game to improve (a mistake very common amongst club players).

He changed his coach and decided he wanted to hit the ball higher in order to win majors. His short game, though, was always average. It was his superior long game that had got him to where he was in the first place.

When he struggled to make the changes and his long game went off, he didn't have the short game to help him scramble and back it up. His form slumped and Westwood disappeared from leader boards, missed cuts and spiralled down the rankings out of sight for several seasons.

Now he is back - his long game form has returned and, with the help of a new coach, he has finally ironed out the problems in his troublesome short game. As a result he is now the full package and able to compete at the highest level once again on the toughest courses.

His short game technique is so much better than it previously was and is giving him the confidence to climb once again back to golf's summit. Who knows, that elusive first major may be just around the corner.