SHANGHAI - The WGC-HSBC Champions hardly needed any more fireworks after Martin Kaymer had come from six behind Fredrik Jacobson with 12 to play to win what was his first WGC event. But off they went just the same, bang, bang, bang into the evening sky – precisely like the winner's nine birdies.

Though the German had made the most ordinary of starts – six pars in a row – he turned in 34 before coming home in 29 for his 20 under par tally. He won by three from Jacobson, by four from Graeme McDowell and by five from the trio of Paul Casey, Charl Schwartzel and Rory McIlroy.

Kaymer is at once the most unassuming and honest of men. He could not lie; he had played "brilliantly" over the day. “The way I have been practising and playing I deserved to win,” he said. "From the moment I holed a bunker shot at the seventh, I didn’t miss a lot of golf shots."

Kaymer claims the 2011 HSBC Champions.

Back in 2006, Kaymer returned a 59 at the Habsberb Classic in Germany on the European Development Tour - a result which had a mention on TV and prompted people to take a note of his name. That was obviously the best score of his career, though he described today's 63 as "the best putting round of my life." As for the best of those putts, it was the 30-footer at the 17th which took him to 19 under par and ensured that he could not be caught.

With ten long months between his win in Abu Dhabi and today's result, Kaymer was thrilled to return to the winner’s circle before the end of the season. “I’ve been playing very solid golf for a bit but, suddenly, everything came together…This is such a big event. I so wanted to win a WGC event after bagging a major and now I've done both."

Those intervening months had not been easy. When, after Abu Dhabi, he enjoyed a short spell as the No.1 in the World, he admitted that neither he, nor anyone else in his circle, knew quite how to handle things. “A lot of people don’t realise what it takes to be the No 1 at the age of 26. I was simply not used to being in the spotlight." On top of that, he was struggling with the business of trying to add a bit of draw to his shots in readiness for Augusta."

Asked if he felt he would handle the No 1 spot better second time around, he said a quiet and convincing, “For sure”, before adding that “as long as that little English one [Luke Donald} is up there, it's going to be difficult to reach that top spot again. Luke deserves to be the No.1."

He joked that he leans a lot from having Christian Donald, brother of Luke, carrying his bag in that he can quiz him on how Luke practises. Where the European Race to Dubai is concerned, Donald has ￡3,357,736 to Kaymer's ￡2,464,292.

Jacobson, who seemed to be cruising towards a win when he had two birdies over his first six holes, was overtaken at the 15th. “I gave it my all,” he said at the end. "After I missed the green at the 17th, I saw that Martin had made a birdie there.

"At that point, I had to get up and down and, when I failed, I had to content myself with playing for second place.”

The week was a good one for McDowell, who demonstrated that he is beginning to recapture his form of a year ago, while the same applied to Casey. The latter, who played alongside Kaymer, summed up the winner's performance with a low and admiring whistle.

Meanwhile, one of the loudest cheers of the day was for Zhang Xinjun, the Chinese player who started his golfing life as a guard at the Xiam International GC.

Zhang did not give the crowd too much to applaud for the first 15 holes but, when it came to the 16th, he chipped in for the best of eagles. That done, he closed par, birdie for the 72 which saw this rookie professional finishing in a share of 13th place, the best effort yet by a local player in "Asia's major”.

HSBC

HSBC provides a comprehensive range of financial services to around 89 million customers through four global businesses; Global Retail Banking & Wealth Management, Global Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets and Global Private Banking.

HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 7,500 offices in over 80 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$2,691billion at 30 June 2011, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.

HSBC Golf Sponsorships

HSBC's global commitment to golf encompasses all levels of the game, from grassroots to elite. In addition to its flagship WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai and HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore as well as acting as a Patron of the Open Championship, HSBC has expanded its portfolio to include both the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and, as golf returns to the Olympic Games for Rio 2016, the HSBC LPGA Brasil Cup, the nation’s one genuinely global golf event.

However, underpinning those blue-riband events is a longer-term goal to create a legacy from HSBC’s global tournaments through its sponsorship of youth development and grassroots programmes. The world’s local bank is supporting the HSBC China Junior Golf Program - a sustainable long-term structure and framework upon which the future of Chinese golf is being built. This includes the HSBC-sponsored China National Junior Team, the HSBC China Junior Open and the HSBC National Junior Golf Championship: a year-long series of tournaments designed to give China’s elite junior golfers the competitive platform they need to develop their game.

In Asia HSBC has spearheaded the arrival of world class golf events and the HSBC Champions is the continent’s first World Golf Championships event and the region’s leading men’s tournament. Last year the then world-number-one Tiger Woods described it as “The crowning jewel of all of Asian golf.” Since its inception in 2005 the event has attracted world-class fields and its last two winners, in the form of Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia, have highlighted its stature. Three-time Major champion Padraig Harrington revealed that he believed creating the HSBC Champions was “a turning point for Asian golf”.

About IMG

IMG Worldwide is a global sports, entertainment and media business, with nearly 3,000 employees operating in 30 countries around the globe. IMG’s areas of expertise are diverse and wide ranging: IMG College; IMG’s Joint Ventures in China, Brazil and India; IMG Media; IMG Events and Federations; IMG Fashion; IMG Models; IMG Art+Commerce; IMG Clients; IMG Academies; IMG Consulting and IMG Licensing. More information is available at www.imgworld.com. Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/IMG_Worldwide and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/IMGWorldwide

World Golf Championships/International Federation of PGA Tours

The International Federation of PGA Tours was formed in 1996 by golf's five world governing bodies – the European Tour, Japan Golf Tour Organization, PGA TOUR, PGA Tour of Australasia and Sunshine Tour (South Africa) with the purpose of providing a forum for the world’s professional golf organizations to discuss issues of mutual importance and, together, develop and promote the game of golf on a global basis. The Asian Tour joined the Federation in November 1999. As part of its mission, the Federation initiated the World Golf Championships in 1999. The Federation was expanded in June 2009 and now includes the Asian Tour, European Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA TOUR, PGA Tour of Australasia, Sunshine Tour, China Golf Association, Korea Professional Golf Tour Corp., Professional Golf Tour of India, LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour, Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour, Japan LPGA, Korean LPGA and the Ladies Asian Golf Tour.