World No. 3 Martin Kaymer made a miserable start to the defense of his Dutch Open title when he squelched to a four-over-par 74 at a soaking Hilversumsche course Thursday. The German, still suffering the heavy cold he picked up last week in Switzerland, trails the first round leaders, his compatriot Marcel Siem and twice Dutch winner Simon Dyson of Britain, by nine strokes. Kaymer now needs a significant change in fortunes in the second round if he is to make the cut to try to hold off world No. 4 Rory McIlroy in the world rankings. The 2010 US PGA champion gets his extra sleep because the second half of the field — including McIlroy and world No. 2 Lee Westwood — had only just begun their rounds when he finished his in early evening. McIlroy and Westwood are in the second half of the draw and will have to finish off their rounds Friday before turning around to play their second rounds. Westwood was level-par after eight holes when darkness closed in to end play and McIlroy was one over, also after eight.
