Sport | Golf

Caddy predicts Kaymer's ascent

'If he continues to improve year-on-year he's got a great chance to be World No. 1 one day'

  • By Ashley Hammond, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 November 29, 2010
  • Gulf News

High hopes
  • Image Credit: Francois Nel/Gulf News
  • Martin Kaymer’s caddy Craig Connelly believes the German has it in him to be the No 1 golfer.

Dubai: Martin Kaymer's caddy Craig Connelly has tipped the new European No. 1 Race to Dubai/European Tour Order of Merit Champion as being "in with a great chance of achieving World No. 1" status in the future.

Speaking to Gulf News, the 33-year-old from Glasgow, Scotland said: "What is he now World No. 3 at 25-years-old? European No. 1, US PGA Champion. If he continues to improve year-on-year he's got a great chance to be World No. 1 one day."

Roller-coaster ride

Kaymer's rise to the top has also been a roller-coaster ride for Connelly who was dropped by Paul Casey at the end of last season, because "he fancied a change, like we all do," Connelly bitterly quipped.

Asked if it was his best caddying year, Connelly said: "Absolutely — three tournament wins, one major and then Race to Dubai. It wasn't all me it was Justin [Grenfell-Hoyle] too [Kaymer's former caddy]."

Connelly filled in for Grenfell-Hoyle who was released by Kaymer, from the PGA Championship at Wentworth in May adding that his tenure so far has been "short, it's gone fast" but "hopefully it's indefinite."

Connelly, who's also caddied for Colin Montgomerie added: "For any caddy to say that you caddied for the world's best players and Europe's No. 1 — it's great, fantastic — it hasn't sunk in yet."

Behind the iceman persona, Connelly said Kaymer was, "very composed, mature for someone so young. He doesn't let much get to him, goes about business very relaxed, doesn't get ahead of himself takes it one step at a time. All the old clichés of golf he does it to the best."

"You know the guy's a great golfer as soon as you pick up his bag only look at his world ranking and see what he's done in his short career to know he's good. There was no defining time to say that he's got it - I already knew he had it."

Reflecting on how fortunes have turned for Connelly since being made redundant he said, "this time last year it was a bitter pill to swallow to be relieved from duty [by Casey] — but when I sit back [at the end of this season] and think about it, I'll have a little chuckle to myself."

Important relationship

Kaymer said of Connelly that it's an important relationship between the caddy and golfer.

"You spend more time with your caddy than with your wife or girlfriend — he's a great guy and has become a friend these past few months, if you can spend these moments with a friend it doesn't get any better."

Despite this, Connelly said "none" of the accolades that will be showered on Kaymer this week can be spared for him.

"It's what we're paid to do — if I think he's about to make a mistake I'll step in and he'll listen to what I have to say, but that's part and parcel of the job."

The schedule next year

The 2011 European Tour schedule will feature 50 golf tournaments, two more than this year, on 29 courses, with new events in Bahrain, Malaysia and the Italian island of Sicily.

The 2011 tour starts next month in South Africa and ends with the Dubai World Championship next December.

The European Tour said in a statement that from 2012 the schedule will be contained within the calendar year, starting in January and ending in December.

Sicily will host a European Tour event at the Donnafugata Golf Resort in the south of the Italian island and Malaysia will host a second tournament, the Iskandar Johor Open, which has previously only been sanctioned by the Asian Tour..

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