Caddie Sunesson 'made me the player I am today,' says new No. 1 Kaymer

Golf's new world No. 1 Martin Kaymer has paid tribute to the person who "made me the player I am today" -- Nick Faldo's former caddie Fanny Sunesson.

Kaymer, who faced off against Luke Donald in the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship on Sunday, made certain that he would take over the top spot from Lee Westwood with his semifinal victory over Bubba Watson on Saturday.

"Fanny and me, we know each other seven or eight years now," said the 26-year-old German, the second-youngest holder of the top spot after Tiger Woods.

"She was helping us out in the national team when I was an amateur. She was talking about course management and strategy and some experiences that she had with Nick Faldo and I found it very interesting,” he explained. "When I played the qualifying school, I could always call her and then we talked about a few suggestions for the golf course, how I felt about certain golf shots.

"Then, since 2008 when I won my first tournament, we were talking about why I won, why I screw up some tournaments, just to find solutions for things,” he added. "In the end of the day I found the solutions by myself, but only through talking to her and the experiences she had and the right questions she asked me made me to the golf player I am today."

Sunesson now works for her fellow Swede Henrik Stenson, and despite his first- round loss to Westwood last Wednesday she stayed around to watch Kaymer's progress through the tournament.

Kaymer, the reigning PGA Champion, becomes the second German holder of the top spot. Bernhard Langer was there for the first three weeks of the rankings when they debuted in 1986.