The best young golfer in the world

You were sidelined for two months after a go-cart injury late last year. How did that happen?
It happened in Phoenix. I went to go-cart track with a few guys. There was a guy behind me and a guy in front of me and the guy behind me pushed me at full power into the guy in front of me. I stayed in the car because of the seat belt but my foot was flipped back. I can't really remember because the pain was insane. I broke three bones and my big toe was bent under the others so they had to rebreak it and set it. But the important thing for me is that my knee was OK. We know from Tiger Woods how long that takes to recover.

How disappointed did you feel when you were left off the 2008 Ryder Cup team?
I went to that Ryder Cup a special guest of [team captain] Nick Faldo. It sounds a little strange but I am so thankful he didn't pick me as a wild card because it helped me so much just to be there and see what the atmosphere is like and learn what the whole tournament's about. It was a good thing that I didn't play.

golf clubs: TaylorMade R7 CGB MAX Irons

Culturally, how is golf different in Germany than the U.S.?
Like day and night. In Germany, we have only Bernard Langer. He's the biggest golf hero we have. Obviously I'm trying to do my best to make golf bigger in Germany. But it's a huge difference — you can't compare it. Here in America golf is almost a national sport like baseball and football. In Germany we have soccer. That's our biggest sport by far. But golf is growing and it would help a lot if Germany would get the Ryder Cup in 2018. The Olympics will obviously help too.

If you won the Masters, would that be the front page of the sports section or would it still be soccer?
It would still be soccer, but if I won the Masters there would be a slightly bigger golf article. I would have to win the Masters and the Ryder Cup in the same year [Laughs]

What's your relationship with German two-times Masters champion Bernard Langer like?
We played a few times together, and we have the same sponsor but we don't talk every week or every month. I can't say I have a close relationship with him. I'm friends with Alex Cjeka. He's living in Vegas and I'm in Phoenix so we sometimes do things together. With Langer, he's in Florida and he doesn't come to Germany very often so I don't see him a lot. I asked him a few questions during my first year on Tour and he would always help me. He took me out at Augusta for a practice round with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. Those are the things that happen when you know someone like him.

You had your best finish in a major at the 2009 PGA Championship (T6). Why haven't we seen an under-25 major winner since Tiger Woods?
It's like the Ryder Cup. You have to be ready for it. You don't know what it feels like to be in the heat on Sunday afternoon to win a major, you don't know it feels to have the putt for the Ryder Cup. We don't know that. How can we know that when we just turned pro and played two or three years on the Challenge Tour and the Nationwide Tour? We don't know those feelings and how we will react. It's just a learning process. It's just nature that we need the experience, so I'm not surprised Tiger Woods is the only one.

New golf stars for 2010 (1 )

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