BERLIN – Martin Kaymer’s historic victory at the U.S. Open has been largely met by indifference in his homeland.

Kaymer became the first champion from Germany with an eight-shot victory on Sunday, but his success barely caused a ripple at home, where attention was firmly focused on football.

Germany opens its World Cup campaign against Portugal on Monday, meaning Kaymer’s triumph could not have come at a worse time for attention. Chancellor Angela Merkel is in Brazil.

Some of the congratulations he did receive even had a football flavor.

Germany and former Cologne forward Lukas Podolski was one of the few to recognize Kaymer’s “legendary performance” in a tweet. The German Olympic Sports Confederation also tweeted its congratulations.

Thankfully, the World Cup was only once every four years. Kaymer, a Cologne fan, will just have to do it again as defending champion.

For the first time in more than 60 years, the British Open is headed across the Irish Sea.

The R&A announced Monday that golf’s oldest championship will return to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland for the first time since Max Faulkner won in 1951. That was the only time it was held outside Scotland or England since the Open began in 1860.

“We have every confidence Royal Portrush will prove to be an excellent venue in every way,” R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said. “There is passionate support in Northern Ireland and we expect there will be huge interest.”

Dawson said it was the “worst-kept secret,” although one mystery remains – the year.

To bring the links course up to modern standards of a major championship, the R&A has recommended using the golf architecture firm Mackenzie & Ebert to create new 17th and 18th holes. Royal Portrush club members would have to sign off on the proposal, though that is likely to be a formality.

The next available date is 2019. Dawson said it could be “a year or two longer than that.”

“It has been more than 60 years since the Open was played here, and it’s been too long,” Dawson said. “And we’re very excited to be coming back.”

For years, there has been a quiet push to bring the Open back to Portrush and the movement picked up momentum with the success of three players from Northern Ireland. Graeme McDowell won the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Darren Clarke captured the British Open a year later at Royal St. George’s. Rory McIlroy won the U.S. Open in 2011 and then the PGA Championship in 2012.

Throw in Padraig Harrington, and Irish golfers won seven of 22 majors during one stretch.

What really caught Dawson’s attention was when Royal Portrush staged a wildly successful Irish Open in 2012, which attracted some 130,000 fans for the week. And then Martin Ebert suggested the right changes to the links course to make it all work.

More than just a golf course, the Open now requires room for such amenities as a television compound and a tented village. Dawson said the R&A would be investing several million pounds (dollars), without giving a more detailed estimate.

“No Open venue is immune from the march of time,” he said. “They all move and they all have to keep up. This isn’t any different from that, except that it hasn’t had an Open for a long time.”

Portrush also has held the Senior British Open six times, and is hosting the British Amateur this week.

The British Open this year is being played at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, which had gone 39 years until it returned to the rotation in 2006 with a popular win by Tiger Woods. Turnberry off the Ayrshire coast in Scotland went 17 years without an Open, despite a history that include the famous “Duel in the Sun” between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus. That required work on the roads to alleviate traffic.

Dawson said the work involved to get Royal Portrush in shape for an Open “is a little bit more.”

“That perhaps reflects the time gap,” he said. “It’s over 60 years since the championship has been here. The requirements of a modern championship are very different from what they were then. But it’s something that’s manageable.”

For the first time in more than 60 years, the British Open is headed across the Irish Sea.

The R&A announced Monday that golf’s oldest championship will return to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland for the first time since Max Faulkner won in 1951. That was the only time it was held outside Scotland or England since the Open began in 1860.

“We have every confidence Royal Portrush will prove to be an excellent venue in every way,” R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said. “There is passionate support in Northern Ireland and we expect there will be huge interest.”

Dawson said it was the “worst-kept secret,” although one mystery remains – the year.

To bring the links course up to modern standards of a major championship, the R&A has recommended using the golf architecture firm Mackenzie & Ebert to create new 17th and 18th holes. Royal Portrush club members would have to sign off on the proposal, though that is likely to be a formality.

The next available date is 2019. Dawson said it could be “a year or two longer than that.”

“It has been more than 60 years since the Open was played here, and it’s been too long,” Dawson said. “And we’re very excited to be coming back.”

For years, there has been a quiet push to bring the Open back to Portrush and the movement picked up momentum with the success of three players from Northern Ireland. Graeme McDowell won the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Darren Clarke captured the British Open a year later at Royal St. George’s. Rory McIlroy won the U.S. Open in 2011 and then the PGA Championship in 2012.

Throw in Padraig Harrington, and Irish golfers won seven of 22 majors during one stretch.

What really caught Dawson’s attention was when Royal Portrush staged a wildly successful Irish Open in 2012, which attracted some 130,000 fans for the week. And then Martin Ebert suggested the right changes to the links course to make it all work.

More than just a golf course, the Open now requires room for such amenities as a television compound and a tented village. Dawson said the R&A would be investing several million pounds (dollars), without giving a more detailed estimate.

“No Open venue is immune from the march of time,” he said. “They all move and they all have to keep up. This isn’t any different from that, except that it hasn’t had an Open for a long time.”

Portrush also has held the Senior British Open six times, and is hosting the British Amateur this week.

The British Open this year is being played at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, which had gone 39 years until it returned to the rotation in 2006 with a popular win by Tiger Woods. Turnberry off the Ayrshire coast in Scotland went 17 years without an Open, despite a history that include the famous “Duel in the Sun” between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus. That required work on the roads to alleviate traffic.

Dawson said the work involved to get Royal Portrush in shape for an Open “is a little bit more.”

“That perhaps reflects the time gap,” he said. “It’s over 60 years since the championship has been here. The requirements of a modern championship are very different from what they were then. But it’s something that’s manageable.”

PINEHURST, N.C. – In the final group at a major for the first time, Rickie Fowler was on the putting green about 45 minutes before his tee time with six other players.

All were women.

Defending U.S. Open champion Justin Rose was walking over a bridge when he passed another player headed to the practice range. Rose stopped and turned his head. It was Pernilla Lindberg of Sweden.

Sunday at the U.S. Open was unlike any other.

Even as the men were wrapping up their championship, the women arrived to prepare for the U.S. Women’s Open – the second half of an unprecedented doubleheader at Pinehurst No. 2.

“It’s cool to run into the girls,” Rory McIlroy said. “I would like to see it happen more often. I think it’s a good thing. I think it’s a good thing for women’s golf to give them a little bit more exposure. … I’m going to tune in on and watch next week just to see how they get on around here and see how they fare.”

USGA officials had expressed hope for some cross-promotion between the events. They got that, from Natalie Gulbis taking swings at the driving range to Sandra Gal watching German countryman Martin Kaymer in the final men’s group.

“I hope putting them back-to-back works out,” Phil Mickelson said. “All of the execution from the USGA’s side gets cut in half. You only have to do it once instead of twice, and hopefully they will be able to make it more profitable and put more money back into the game.”

The U.S. Women’s Open begins Thursday.

DECATUR, Ill. – Madison Pressel won the Decatur-Forsyth Classic on Sunday for her first Symetra Tour title, beating Ashley Tait with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff.

Pressel, LPGA Tour player Morgan Pressel’s younger sister, birdied the par-3 17th and finished with an even-par 72 to match playing partner Tait at 6-under 210 at Hickory Point.

Tait blew a late four-stroke lead, dropping a stroke on the par-4 15th and making a double bogey on the 17th. She finished with a 74.

Pressel earned $15,000 to jump from 110th to 17th on the money list with $17,126, with the final top 10 earning 2015 LPGA Tour cards. The 22-year-old former University of Texas player opened with rounds of 67 and 71.

South Korea’s Hye-Min Kim and Canada’s Ashley Sholer tied for third at 4 under. Kim shot 68, and Sholer had a 70.

Canadian scores were as follows:

T3. Ashley Sholer – 72-70-70–212 (-4)
T11. Jessica Wallace – 70-70-74–214 (-2)
T11. Samantha Richdale – 74-68-72–214 (-2)
T18. Nicole Vandermade – 72-72-71–215 (-1)
T21. Maude Aimee LeBlanc – 72-73-71–216 (E)
T28.Brogan McKinnon – 69-73-75–217 (+1)
T34. Sara Maude Juneau – 69-74-75–218 (+2)
T71. Angela Buzminski – 72-74-77–223 (+7)
86. Jessica Shepley – 74-73-80–227 (+11)
MC. Christine Wong – 73-75–148 (+4)
MC. Kirby Dreher – 77-74–151 (+7)
MC. Erica Rivard – 77-75–152 (+8)

PINEHURST, N.C. – The man who drove NBC Sports analyst Roger Maltbie’s golf cart during the third round of the U.S. Open is facing four charges after an incident with a state trooper on the course, a North Carolina State Police spokeswoman said Sunday.

According to a police report, Tommy Lineberry was charged with felony assault on a law enforcement officer, felony hit and run, driving while impaired, and resisting, obstructing and delaying a law enforcement officer.

Spokeswoman Pam Walker said the 59-year-old Lineberry, from Wilmington, was released from the Moore County jail Saturday night after posting bail.

Lineberry didn’t immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.

The trooper said Lineberry ignored instructions to stay put, then hit the officer with his golf cart.

Maltbie was walking Saturday with the final group of Martin Kaymer and Brendon Todd. Lineberry’s job is to drive Maltbie to get in position for the next shots.

An Associated Press reporter who witnessed the incident heard Lineberry tell the trooper, “I’m supposed to get the cart to Roger.”

“When a state trooper tells you to stop, THAT’S what you’re supposed to do,” the trooper responded, inches from Lineberry’s face.

The trooper was holding traffic behind a walkway as the players teed off on the 11th hole. He told Lineberry that the cart struck his leg. The trooper asked for any the names of witnesses, and three people in the gallery immediately handed him their business cards.

The trooper ran after and then collared Lineberry, quickly placing him in handcuffs.

PINEHURST, N.C. – Martin Kaymer returned to the elite in golf with a U.S. Open victory that ranks among the best.

A forgotten star for two years while building a complete game, Kaymer turned the toughest test of golf into a runaway at Pinehurst No. 2 on Sunday to become only the seventh wire-to-wire winner in 114 years of the U.S. Open.

Kaymer closed with a 1-under 69 – the only player from the last eight groups to break par – for an eight-shot victory over Rickie Fowler and Erik Compton, the two-time heart transplant recipient and the only player who even remotely challenged the 29-year-old German.

So dominant was Kaymer that no one got closer than four shots over the final 48 holes.

Only a late bogey kept Kaymer from joining Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as the only players to finish a U.S. Open in double digits under par. He made a 15-foot par putt on the 18th hole, dropping his putter as the ball fell into the center of the cup, just like so many other putts this week.

“No one was catching Kaymer this week,” Compton said, who closed with a 72 to earn earned a trip to the Masters next April. “I was playing for second. I think we all were playing for second.”

This U.S. Open really ended on Friday.

Kaymer set the U.S. Open record with back-to-back rounds of 65 to set the pace at 10-under 130. He began Sunday with a five-shot lead, and after a 10-foot par save on the second hole, Kaymer belted a driver on the 313-yard third hole. The ball landed on the front of the green and rolled to the back, setting up a two-putt birdie.

“He kind of killed the event in the first two days,” Henrik Stenson said. “He went out and shot two 65s and left everyone in the dust.”

Fowler, in the final group of a major for the first time, fell back quickly on the fourth hole. He sent his third shot from a sandy path over the green and into some pine trees and had to make a 25-foot putt just to escape with double bogey. Fowler played even par the rest of the way for a 72.

Compton birdied the eighth hole and got within four shots until he took bogey on the par-3 ninth, and Kaymer followed with an 8-iron to 4 feet for birdie.

Kaymer finished at 9-under 271, the second-lowest score in U.S. Open history next to McIlroy’s 268 at Congressional in 2011.

He won his second major – the other was the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in a three-man playoff – and this one wasn’t close.

“Martin was playing his own tournament,” Fowler said.

Kaymer joined Seve Ballesteros, Ernie Els, Woods and McIlroy as the only players to win two majors and be No. 1 in the world before turning 30 since the world ranking began in 1986. He is the fourth European in the last five years to win the U.S. Open, after Europeans had gone 40 years without this title.

It’s a rebirth for Kaymer, who reached No. 1 in the world in February 2011, only to believe that he needed a more rounded game. His preferred shot was a fade. Kaymer spent two hard years, a lot of lonely hours on the range in Germany and his home in Scottsdale, Arizona.

He fell as low as No. 63 in the world until going wire-to-wire (with ties) at The Players Championship, considered the strongest and deepest field in golf.

But the big payoff came at Pinehurst No. 2.

“I didn’t make many mistakes the last two wins that I had in America – especially this week,” said Kaymer, who moves to No. 11 in the world.

Kaymer has as many majors as Bernhard Langer, the two-time Masters champion and a mentor to Kaymer. Langer sent him text messages earlier in the week.

“We’ve almost a German Grand Slam – almost,” Kaymer said. “I hope it will make Bernhard proud. I’m sure it will make all of Germany proud.”

The biggest challenge for Kaymer was tuning out the crowd, with enormous support for Fowler, who enjoys pop star qualities in America. The fans clapped when Kaymer’s ball bounded off the back of the green, and even when a superb shot from the native weeds on No. 4 rolled off the front of the green.

He marched along, dropping a shot on No. 7 with a shot left of the green that made him play away from a bunker to avoid a score worse than bogey, and another on the par-5 10th when a shot from the sandy area sailed over the green, and he used putter to send the next shot back toward the fairway.

But after back-to-back birdies, including a 30-footer on the 14th, the only question left was the margin.

Woods still holds the most dominant U.S. Open win – 15 shots at Pebble Beach in 2000. McIlroy won by eight shots on rain-softened Congressional in 2011, winning with a record score of 16-under 268.

“I’m wondering how he did it,” McIlroy said. “Obviously, if you limit the mistakes, you might end up a couple under for the week. But to do what he’s doing … I think it’s nearly more impressive than what I did at Congressional.”

Kaymer’s father was home in Germany, where he said Father’s Day was celebrated a few weeks ago.

“I didn’t get anything for my father that day,” Kaymer said. “So maybe this works.”

Among those who congratulated Kaymer on the 18th green was Sandra Gal, a German player on the LPGA Tour. The Women’s U.S. Open takes over Pinehurst No. 2 on Monday.

SAN FRANCISCO – Jim McLean has coached child prodigies at his golf schools around the world for decades, so he thought he had seen just about every kind of young hopeful out there.

Then came Lucy Li.

The 11-year-old from the suburbs south of San Francisco became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open by winning the sectional at Half Moon Bay in California by seven strokes last month. Her journey to Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina, where the tournament begins Thursday, is the quickest and most unique of anybody in the field.

A sixth grader with braces and a sharp short game, Li’s family came to California from Hong Kong and she has been training at McLean’s golf school in Miami since she was 7. As he has with many young golfers when they arrive, McLean gave her the Dr. Seuss book, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!”

Li not only read the book. She memorized it.

“She’s incredibly smart,” McLean said. “And an incredibly fast learner.”

That much is clear. Little else about Li’s life is. Her family has declined interview requests, only issuing a statement through the USGA that she is honored to play in the prestigious tournament.

Those who have watched Li’s rapid rise tell a story of a girl who skips down fairways and brings candy bars to club members, a focused competitor with a powerful swing and polished putting, and a youngster whose family has dedicated time and money to grow her game.

McLean said Li is homeschooled through an online Stanford University program and spends the winter months training with him in Miami, where she is watched over by her aunt, Tao Zeng, an eye doctor. The rest of the time Li spends in Silicon Valley with her father, Warren Li, a computer consultant, and her mother, Amy Zeng, a former table tennis player who works in the technology industry, he said. Li’s brother, Luke, studies at Princeton.

McLean said Li’s mother tried pushing her toward other activities such as music, ballet and aerobics. But Li’s brother played golf competitively, and she wanted to be just like him.

“She started to like golf, and then all she wanted to do was golf,” McLean said. “It didn’t come that easy for her. She worked.”

Joby Ross is a golf instructor at Mariners Point in Foster City, just a few short miles from Li’s home in Redwood Shores. Ross remembers Li’s brother and cousin practicing at the course first, but the family later turned their attention to Li after she began whacking a few balls on the range while waiting for them to finish a tournament.

“They were very serious with her more than the other two,” Ross said. “Her mom and her aunt were always with her. They would use the practice and short-game area for hours on end. I’d see them in the morning and they’d bring a lunch with them, and they’d stop and have a little lunch break and continue practicing, chipping and pitching and they’d go onto our grass tee where they could hit shots. It was a pretty extensive practice session for a young kid.”

Ross had his concerns about whether Li’s family pushed her too hard at an early age. A few times, he saw her having a tantrum with her mom and aunt.

“She was crying and I asked, `What was the problem?'” Ross recalled. “She seemed pretty frustrated and I thought, `Well, maybe they were making her be out there too long.’ And they said, `Oh, she’s just upset because we have to leave, and she wants to stay.'”

Hollis Kelley, an instructor at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club in San Jose, said Li plays the course often when she is in California. He said Li is a favorite in the pro shop, where she often hands out Quaker Chewy chocolate chip granola bars to the staff.

“For her size, she has extraordinary power,” Kelley said. “Because of her stature, at this point she couldn’t overpower a golf course. But pound for pound, she’s very powerful. She has a great short game. Her game is pretty boring. She doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. She shoots a couple under par and it just seems like it’s an everyday thing for her.”

Li set a record last year in the U.S. Women’s Amateur as the youngest qualifier at age 10. She also was the youngest in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links to reach match play, losing in the first round to a college player.

Li captured the girls’ 10-11 division at the inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt contest at Augusta that preceded the Masters this year. Then she beat second-place qualifier Kathleen Scavo by seven strokes at Half Moon Bay to surpass the mark set by Lexi Thompson, who was 12 when she made it to the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles.

McLean also coached Thompson – along with several other PGA and LPGA players over the years – but thought Li was too young to train when her mother first called him. He said he changed his mind after Li and her mother met with him in Miami, when he saw the family’s commitment and Li’s love for golf.

“I couldn’t turn them down,” he said.

McLean said he has put a heavy emphasis for Li to play the course instead of practice on the range. He said Li has made the biggest strides with her short game since she arrived, and her consistent ball-striking ability and concentration is rare for a golfer of any age.

Even still, he believes making the cut at the U.S. Open is asking “way too much” of Li – and not just because of her age.

“I don’t think that’s a reasonable expectation for anybody playing one LPGA event a year,” he said. “But it wouldn’t be the first time she’s surprised us.”

Every father plays a unique role in a child’s life. Fathers often hold a special place in our hearts because of the unique things tha t they did with and for us as kids. As adults we treasure that special time together even more. More often than not, a father will introduce his daughter or son to sport and sometimes, that sport happens to be golf. The chance t o spend four or five hours on the course with your dad is special enough, but ho w about growing up alongside one of the legends of the game, onl y to turn into a fine professional yourself? We honour all dads this Father’s Day with a look at some of the most famous father and child player combinations in golf history.

OLD TOM MORRIS/ YOUNG TOM MORRIS

Tom Morris Sr. (or Old Tom Morris) was one of golf’s founding fathers. A four-time British Open champion, Morris Sr. held the record for largest margin of victory at a major (14 strokes) until 2000 when Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open by 15. He was also a jack-of all- trades in the golf business, acting as a greenskeeper, club-maker, ball-maker, golf instructor and course designer. Young Tom Morris also won the British Open four times, and holds the record for being the youngest major champion in golf’s history (he was 17 in 1868). He unfortunately died at only 24 years of age.

WILLIE PARK/WILLIE PARK JR.

Another of golf’s founding fathers was Willie Park Sr. Also a four-time British Open winner, Park Sr. actually captured the very first British Open. His son, Willie Park Jr. captured the British Open twice. He’s credited as being one of golf’s first renaissance men; known as a golf writer, businessman and course architect, Park Jr.’s designs include a handful of notable layouts in Canada.

DAVID BLACK/KEN BLACK

The Blacks make up the lone father-son duo to be enshrined in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. The elder Black emigrated to North America from Scotland with his brothers to become golf professionals in the early 1900s. He worked as a club pro in Ottawa and Montreal before going west to Vancouver. He won four PGA of Canada Championships and was runner-up in the 1911 Canadian Open. The younger Black captured three B.C. Amateurs and the 1939 Canadian Amateur Championship. In a story that legends are made of, he came from nine strokes behind to win the Vancouver Jubilee Open as a 24-year-old amateur, nipping Byron Nelson by three to become the first Canadian to win a PGA Tour event.

JULIUS BOROS/GUY BOROS

Although a late bloomer, Julius Boros – who didn’t turn professional until he was 29 – sure made up for lost time. A threetime major champion, the elder Boros still holds the record for being the oldest major champion of all time. He captured the PGA Championship in 1968 at the age of 48. Julius Boros was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1982 and passed away in 1994. His son Guy Boros has a handful of Canadian connections. He captured his lone PGA Tour victory in 1996 at the Greater Vancouver Open, and played on the Canadian Tour for four years including 1991, when he was the Tour’s leading money winner

GAYLE HITCHENS BORTHWICK/ BOB HITCHENS/ DICK BORTHWICK

Saskatchewan native Gayle Hitchens Borthwick earned her way into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame thanks a competitive career which included three U.S. Senior titles, wins at both the Canadian Amateur and Canadian Senior, and numerous provincial championships. She learned the game under the watchful eye of her father, Capilano’s assistant professional Bob Hitchens. Her father-in-law likely played an influential role in her game as well; the legendary Dick Borthwick served the Hamilton Golf and Country Club as head pro for almost three decades and claimed the 1949 Canadian PGA Championship.

Jay Haas/Bill Haas

Jay Haas is a nine-time PGA Tour champion and holds the record for most cuts made on the PGA Tour with 562. He’s a Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup champion as well and continues to play well on the Champions Tour, with 16 wins on the senior circuit. Son Bill was the 2011 FedEx Cup champion (pocketing a cool $10 million in the process) and is a five-time winner on the PGA Tour. The Haas duo also has the unique distinction of being one of just two father-son pairs who have won the same PGA Tour event. Jay captured the 1988 Bob Hope Classic, while Bill won the 2010 edition of the tournament.

Dave Mills/Jon Mills

Dave and Jon Mills make up part of a legendary Canadian golf family. Dave worked with the Golf Association of Ontario for nearly 20 years, and retired in January of 2014 as its Executive Director. Dave’s son Jon won the Ontario Amateur Championship in 2001 after graduating from Kent State University in 2000. He captured the 2003 MTS Classic on the Canadian Tour and is a two-time winner on the former Nationwide Tour. He currently holds conditional status on the Web.com Tour. Now that Jon has a daughter, can golf games with her father and grandfather be far behind?

Craig Stadler/Kevin Stadler

Craig and Kevin Stadler made history as the first father-son duo to play together at the Masters. Craig is a 13-time winner on the PGA Tour, including his 1982 green jacket victory. The younger Stadler captured his first PGA Tour victory earlier this year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. His nickname is “Smalrus,” a play on his father’s nickname “The Walrus

ROBERT TRENT JONES SR./ ROBERT TRENT JONES JR.

Robert Trent Jones Junior and Senior, along with Jr.’s brother Rees, make up the first family of golf course architecture. It is said that Robert Trent Jones Sr. worked on nearly 500 golf courses in his lifetime, including London Hunt Club, Capilano (which he worked on with famed Canadian architect Stanley Thompson) and The Marshes in Ottawa (a course that he worked on with his son and was completed after his death in 2000). Robert Trent Jones Jr., meanwhile, has become a well-known designer in his own right. He’s perhaps best known for his design at Poppy Hills in California, and Chambers Bay in Washington (the host course of the 2015 U.S. Open).

Rory McIlroy/Gerry McIlroy

Although golf’s newest wunderkind has already captured two majors and four other PGA Tour events, Rory McIlroy is only 24 years old and hopefully has a long career still ahead of him. However his successful golf career may never have started without the counsel of his father Gerry, a fine player in his own right. The elder McIlroy taught Rory everything he knew about golf while Rory was still a small child. Gerry played to a scratch handicap, and has won the club championship at the prestigious Holywood Golf Club in Northern Ireland.

Ian Poulter/luke Poulter

One of the most outspoken members on the PGA Tour, Ian Poulter has established himself as a true contender on tour. Could his son Luke be following in his footsteps? Luke, 9, won a U.S. Kids Golf event in Orlando earlier this year by seven shots. Luke’s famous father was his caddie that day, and sent out a handful of excited tweets to his 1.6 million followers as the event went on.

Bubba Watson/Caleb Watson

Bubba Watson is a crier. Everyone’s seen him tear up on TV but nothing was as emotional as Watson’s 2012 Masters victory. He had just adopted his son Caleb – with Canadian wife Angie – that year after losing his own father to throat cancer. Caleb has already shown some significant golfing prowess in the YouTube videos that Bubba has posted and celebrated with his dad in the winner’s circle at Augusta again this year.

PINEHURST, N.C. – Not even Martin Kaymer was immune from a Pinehurst No. 2 course that restored the reputation of a U.S. Open.

He threw enough counterpunches Saturday to leave him on the cusp of his second major.

On a broiling day with some wicked pin positions that yielded only two rounds under par, Kaymer rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to salvage a 2-over 72 and take a five-shot lead into the final round.

Only one player in U.S. Open history has lost a five-shot lead in the final round, and that was 95 years go.

“I didn’t play as well as the first two days, but I kept it together,” Kaymer said.

That was all that was required on a day when the U.S. Open finally looked like the toughest test in golf. Kaymer hit a 7-iron from the sandy area left of the fairway on the par-5 fifth hole to set up a 5-foot eagle putt, and his birdie on the final hole put him at 8-under 202.

Only the names of challengers changed, but they were sure to stir up the crowd – and the emotions.

Erik Compton, a two-time heart transplant recipient and perhaps the most remarkable story on the PGA Tour, rolled in a 40-foot putt on the 11th hole for one of his six birdies in a round of 67. He was tied at 3-under 207 with Rickie Fowler, a fan favorite of young American golf fans, who also had a 67.

Fowler will play in the final group of a major for the first time.

Only six players remained under par, and considering no one has come from more than seven shots behind in the final round to win a U.S. Open, they might be the only ones left with a realistic chance to catch the 29-year-old German.

Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson each shot 70 and were at 2-under 208. Brandt Snedeker had a 72 and was another shot behind.

Asked how much that birdie mattered on the 18th hole, Kaymer said, “One shot.”

“If you’re four shots, five shots, six shots, if you play a golf course like this, it can be gone very quickly,” he said. “You could see it today. So the challenge tomorrow is to keep going and not try to defend anything. So we’ll see how it will react tomorrow, how the body feels and how I handle the situation.”

Kaymer had his way with a softer, more gentle Pinehurst No. 2 by becoming the first player to open with 65s to set the 36-hole record at 10-under 130. Some players wondered what tournament he was playing.

There was no doubt what it was on Saturday.

“They’ve set it up so that no one can go low,” Retief Goosen said after a 71. “Some of the pins look like they’re about to fall off the greens.”

Toru Taniguchi shot an 88. Brendon Todd, playing in the final group with Kaymer, had a 79.

Phil Mickelson had a 73 and was 13 shots out of the lead. He’ll have to wait until next year to pursue the only major keeping him from the career Grand Slam. Adam Scott, the world No. 1, made bogey on all but one of the par 3s and was 11 shots behind.

Kaymer nearly joined the parade of players going the wrong direction.

He ended an amazing streak of 29 holes without a bogey by failing to get up-and-down from short of the second green. Trouble really was brewing on the fourth hole, when he pulled his tee shot into the trees and couldn’t play his next shot.

The ball settled in a washed-out section of sand, next to a 6-inch pile of pine straw. He took a one-shot penalty only after learning he could move the pine straw as loose impediments before he took his drop.

“It’s all loose. How should I know what’s not loose,” he asked USGA President Tom O’Toole.

He punched out to the fairway and holed a 15-foot putt to escape with bogey. In the sandy area again on the next hole, Kaymer ripped a 7-iron from 202 yards that caught the front portion of the green and stopped pin-high for his eagle.

His long birdie putt on the par-3 sixth rolled off the back of the green for another bogey, and Kaymer dropped two more shots with three-putt bogeys, one of them from just off the green at No. 15. He also saved par with two putts from off the green, and the birdie was big.

Mike Brady is the only other player to lose a five-shot lead. That was in 1919 at Brae Burn Country Club in Massachusetts. He shot 80 in the last round, and Walter Hagen beat him the next day in a playoff.

Compton has never won on the PGA Tour, though just playing is a victory for a guy on his third heart. Compton had a heart attack and drove himself to the hospital before his most recent transplant seven years ago.

“I think that my attitude suits a U.S. Open-style course because I don’t ever give up,” Compton said.

Compton, Brendon de Jonge and Kevin Na were the only players to reach 4-under par in their pursuit of Kaymer. Only Compton managed to stay close. De Jonge bogeyed four of his last seven holes, while Na took two double bogeys in the last five holes.