"I hit the same iron as I had done 20 minutes before but it was just a weak shot," he added, speaking of his tee shot in the play-off. "It was an okay lie and I thought that I could easily get it over the water. I had 170 metres with a six iron, but I pulled it a little bit which probably turned out to be a good thing.

"I carried the water by about a metre or so. With the chip over the bunker down to the flag I just wanted to make sure that I kept the ball short of the flag because there was a danger of losing it off the back of the green into the water. After his fourth shot I knew that I had at least one putt for the tournament and I managed to sneak that one in the left side."

Kaymer's victory is his third European Tour title which takes him back into the world's top 20 and earns him €666,660.

 Phil Kenyon working with Martin Kaymer
at the Shell Houston Open