Later, he would elaborate on how, away from its context, the putt had been simple. "At the end of the day, if you stick to the facts, it was the easiest putt you can have – uphill and inside right. We have that putt millions of times ... I said to myself, ‘There’s no doubt here. It’s inside right, step up and make it.’ So they were very clear thoughts."
That the six-footer had been his to tackle is something he will forever see as a gift. "It’s very, very rare that you are in a position to make such an important putt,” he marvelled. He proffered the further point that it would not be the same if he were to have one of similar magnitude in 2014 “because I would have done it before."
Because he is not that sort of a man, Kaymer had been taken aback at his emotional response to the moment. He had asked his brother if he had looked ridiculous and his brother had assured him that that was not the case. "He told me that even if it did look ridiculous, it was a good thing, because it comes natural. It was a true feeling."
It was in watching the closing stages of the match on German TV that Kaymer almost welcomed the fuss being made by the European media.
As he listened to the German TV commentators, his heart had sunk.
He went so far as to mimic their miserably monotone commentary. "It was like, 'Oh yeah, Kaymer’s putt has dropped in. It’s very nice, there is great celebration.' They are just so flat and, for me, it is difficult to understand.
"You try your very best, not only for yourself but for golf in Germany and then there’s so little excitement. There is something so big that is happening and in they just don’t get it ..."
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