Martin Kaymer is making a habit of beating Bubba Watson in tight situations.

He is developing quite a liking for playing him, too — and not just because he has been so successful in recent times.

Not as dramatic as his Ryder Cup win over the American, Kaymer still needed a degree of mental toughness to come through a topsy-turvy day that was fittingly decided by a missed putt, rather than an impressive golf shot.

Tied at six under par after 36 holes, the two matched each other coming down 18, the first play-off hole, and were both inside ten feet facing birdie putts. Kaymer made his, Watson missed and that was that.

“You don’t want to win a golf tournament that way,” Kaymer said. “Of course, I would take it, but you don’t really want the other guy missing a short putt.

“It was an up-and-down round, but I like playing with Bubba. Obviously not only because I’ve been always successful playing against him; it’s just he’s fun company.”

That Watson should miss a putt of that distance would normally be a surprise, but he had one of those days on the greens when nothing would drop, although he still managed to be the only player under par for the second round.

The Masters champion missed presentable birdie putts on five of the first six holes — his miss from five feet at the 1st, in contrast to a par-saving attempt from 33 feet for Kaymer largely set the tone for the day.

“My putter, I hit great putts, they just didn’t want to go in this week,” Watson said. “That’s how golf is sometimes.”

The putting was the reason that Kaymer was still two shots ahead through seven and contributed more than anything to a back nine where the foursome managed 11 bogeys and two double bogeys between them.

All dropped shots, although Watson and Kaymer could afford to drop more than most in what quickly became a two-horse race.

The German, who shot level-par 71 yesterday, held or shared the lead for 35 of the 36 holes played in the tournament and when Watson got his nose in front, he was not able to hold on.

A birdie at 16 for him, coupled with a bogey from Kaymer, resulted in a two-shot swing, putting Watson two up at seven under.

Driver then at 17, off a forward tee, was not the best option and his shot finished in the water, allowing Kaymer, who birdied, to pull level once again.

“If this was a four-day tournament we were playing, it would probably be a four-wood off the tee or a three-iron,” Watson said.

“Today, I was just, ‘Let’s try to see how manly I am with the driver’, and I wasn’t very manly, I hit it in the water.”

Watson still had a chance to win in regulation, but he missed a birdie putt on 18 from 12 feet, and that rather summed up his day.

Rory McIlroy and Jim Furyk were also playing yesterday, and their battle not to finish last came down McIlroy making one less mistake.

His chip-in at 17 to save par made the difference, leaving him on two over for the tournament after final round of 75.

Furyk, meanwhile, finished at three over for the two days and again managed to bogey the two of the last three holes.

The two-times Grand Slam winner described his putting as “atrocious” — that he managed only four birdies over the two days would bare that out.

“I did a lot of good things,” he said. “The one bad thing I did was score. I’m kind of disappointed that I actually played a lot better than three over.”