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Kaymer keeps his eyes on the prize

Christian Donald will be on the bag for Martin Kaymer at Congressional © Getty Images

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ESPN will be providing live commentary during all four days of the US Open from Congressional CC - along with all the news, views and opinion when it gets underway on Thursday.

Martin Kaymer insists he will not get sucked into a rankings battle at the US Open.

The world No. 3 will partner Luke Donald and Lee Westwood in the first two rounds at Congressional, but with the world's top three players going head-to-head, the US PGA champion is determined to remain focused on the bigger picture - a second major title.

"I think there's a bigger picture for sure," Kaymer said. "At the end of the day you're still thinking about the tournaments, it's not about the world rankings."

However, with Kaymer and his playing partners having been the last three occupants of the world No. 1 spot, and with Padraig Harrington the last man to win back-to-back majors when he won the 2008 PGA Championship, Kaymer admits it is an exciting time for the sport.

"It's exciting, isn't it? It's nice to have different champions. It's interesting for golf and the world," he said. "The world rankings are changing every week, every month something else is going on. So I find it very exciting.

"Obviously Tiger [Woods] hasn't been up to his best form the last two years. It's always nice to have him at tournaments; it brings in a little bit more attention. Hopefully he gets well soon and we can play against him. But I think for us Europeans obviously it's fantastic, it's very exciting to see us up there."

With Donald's brother Christian to caddy for Kaymer for the first time, the Germany insists there will be no fireworks, but he admits there will be a steep learning curve for both of them.

"I don't know how he is as a caddie. I know that he's a very nice guy, a great personality," Kaymer added. "We get along very well. We will try out a few weeks and then see how it goes. His experience that he has from his brother, he caddied for him for seven years and a year for Paul Casey, so that shouldn't be a problem.

"But obviously this is our first week, so it would be a little bit difficult to get used to each other straight away. We will spend a lot of time together talking, about distances, about how I approach a golf course, a little more aggressive or defensive. He just has to know me."

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