Kaymer Comes Back By Being Himself

Remember the photo of Martin Kaymer the morning after he’d won the 2014 Players Championship, sitting on the airport floor waiting on a flight just like any other traveler might?

The photo told us more about Kaymer than his golf already had and it came just a month before he won the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

“I’m not a king,” Kaymer said later when asked about the photo.

For a time, though, Kaymer was the top-ranked player in the world, perhaps the quietest and most inconspicuous No. 1 ever.

He’s won the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and the Players and there he was in the Columbus, Ohio, airport Monday morning after nearly winning the Memorial Tournament, as inconspicuous as ever, waiting on another commercial flight. He did get to board first when his flight was called, a hint about where he was sitting, but Kaymer long ago earned his upgrade.

Kaymer is an example of how a career can gradually go off course and he is a willing subject on a topic that’s almost taboo to tour players. Jordan Spieth, for example, has push...