PINEHURST, N.C. - The final group was off at the U.S. Open Sunday and the ladies were already getting ready to take over Pinehurst for their Open this coming week.
LPGA players were already on the range. Others followed the action inside the ropes while their caddies marked off yardages on the holes that were completed.
It almost felt as though the men's tournament was already over. And it was.
Martin Kaymer wrapped this thing up with his two 65s Friday and Saturday and no one in the field, particularly the big boys, was able to make a run at him over the weekend.
For the second straight major, there was little Sunday buzz, although at the Masters, it was only the usually pyrotechnic back nine that lacked drama.
Maybe golf misses Tiger Woods but it's the old, dominant Woods that is really missed. The latest version hasn't been very exciting at many majors lately, either. And we're going to have to get used to it. Woods isn't doing much of anything as he recovers from back surgery and the announcement that he's going to miss next month's British Open seems inevitable. In fact, there are whispers that he may not even be ready for the year's final major, the PGA.
Once doctors give him the OK to start swinging again, it's not going to be a simple matter of playing his way back into form. Woods didn't have his A-Game even before he hurt his back. It's not going to be easy to find.
Unfortunately, this has given ammunition to the people who insist that golf is all about one man. But what we're seeing take place here is that it could be about several.
In adding a U.S. Open title to his 2010 PGA championship, Kaymer joined Rory McIlroy as the only two under-30 players with two majors. It can't be just a hot streak for the German. It's this kind of potential he showed when he emerged as the world's No. 1 player at age 25. He just couldn't handle it. But it's evident he not only has the swing, he has the mentality and the temperament.
'I don't just say this because he's got two majors and a Players,' commentator Brandel Chamblee said on GolfChannel. 'I think we have a mega-star in Martin Kaymer for all the obvious reasons.'
We've yet to see the best out of 20-year-old Jordan Spieth, who flashed his potential again this week. Then there's Jason Day, the 26-year-old Aussie who this week posted his seventh top 10 in 15 major starts. And let's not forget McIlroy, who is going to light things up in another major very soon.
'I think I deserved to be under the radar because I didn't play as good as they did,' Kaymer said of the other 20-somethings. 'I think the way Rory played the last few years, when he became No. 1 in the world, the way he handled everything around him, off the golf course, I think he did it very well. And Jordan, he's just a very, very nice person, very nice kid who's playing very good golf. And I hope that he will win majors, as well. Because, you know, that is what the PGA Tour, what golf, needs.'
Naturally, the atmosphere at Pinehurst Sunday was anticlimactic, thanks to Kaymer's dominance. There were a few idiots in the gallery who were rooting against the German. One lout yelled out, ''Yes!' when Kaymer missed his birdie putt on the fifth hole. Kaymer was unfazed. He continued to lap the field. But you can't blame some for being bored.
Kaymer had said on Friday that even Germany may not get too excited over his win, with the nation anticipating Monday's World Cup opener against Portugal. 'If I win?' he asked. 'It will last probably until Monday, 12 o'clock, and then that's it.'
He was joking, of course. Germany's World Cup team has a lot to live up to now.
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