Golf- French Open: Blistering heat and a blistered foot served only to bring out the best in young German Martin Kaymer in Paris, where the 24-year-old began the French Open Alstom with a course record-equalling 62 at Le Golf National. That left him 10 shots ahead of Pádraig Harrington, who faces a fight to avoid a fifth successive missed cut two weeks before his bid for an Open hat-trick at Turnberry.
So bad was Kaymer’s right foot that as well as being seen by a doctor he had a hole cut in his golf shoe to allow him to play Wednesday’s pro-am.
With the help of his three partners he won that by four with an amazing 16-under-par best-ball of 55, but to be only seven worse than that on his own underlined what a massive talent he is.
“I’ve been missing a lot of short putts, but everything came together - and I hope it continues,” he said after taking a three-stroke lead over England’s 2006 winner John Bickerton, Thai Thongchai Jaidee, Australian Scott Strange, Swede Peter Hanson and Argentina’s Rafa Echenique.
“The foot’s still hurting, but I will survive,” added Kaymer. “Yesterday when I was practising it was unbelievable pain, but now I don’t worry about it.”
Kaymer’s round actually began with a bogey, but after five birdies in the next nine holes he chipped in for eagle at the long third and finished with three more birdies for an inward 30.
Harrington was paired with Ian Poulter, runner-up to him at Royal Birkdale last summer and to Swede Henrik Stenson in May’s Players Championship in Florida,
but they both finished down the field on one over.
Both looked on the bright side afterwards, however.
“Three three-putts (including two in the first three holes) really hurt badly, but I was encouraged by the way I played - very encouraged,” said Harrington, who apart from his recent dismal run has not had a top-10 finish since January.
He wasn’t the only Irishman to struggle either. Shane Lowry and Gareth Maybin make up the unlikely duo to spearhead the challenge on two under, one ahead of Damien McGrane.
Michael Hoey and Peter Lawrie are level par, while Graeme McDowell and Paul McGinley are level with Harrington.
Darren Clarke and Gary Murphy are two and three over respectively.
Poulter, in Europe for the first time this year, went in the water twice for a triple bogey seven on the 18th, his ninth, and had angry words with a photographer walking off the tee there.
But he said: “Take that hole out of it that was not disastrous. After I pulled the drive into the lake I dropped the ball in a smelly lie, but overall I played lovely.”
Nick Dougherty followed up his win last week with a 66 and Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, without a top-10 finish since he was runner-up in this event last year, returned a 69. But major winners Jose Maria Olazabal, Angel Cabrera and John Daly all fared worse than Harrington.
Daly was already eight over when he quit with a bad back on the 17th, Olazabal had a 74 and the 75 of current Masters champion Cabrera meant he even finished five behind his 20-year-old son Federico.
The youngster was even on the leaderboard early in the day at three under, but then matched Poulter’s seven on the last.
Miguel Angel Jimenez, whose 500th European Tour event began with a hook into the water, hit back for a 67 and fellow Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal, the defending champion, matched that with five birdies in the last six holes — after a triple bogey eight on the ninth.
