Confident McDowell sweeps on

If success is any indicator, then Graeme McDowell - who just can't stop winning these days - is the genuine article. Yesterday, in the South of Ireland amateur championship, sponsored by Irish Shell, the 21-year-old collected his sixth tournament title in less than three months and, with it, the bonus of an invitation to play in an event on the US PGA Tour next year.

Given that he will then be into his second year of mechanical engineering studies at the University of Alabama, the comparatively short flight to Texas in April to compete in the Houston Open won't present too much of a chore.

"Phenomenal!" exclaimed McDowell of the extra reward for his South win, which was achieved in impressive fashion with a 4 and 2 victory over Ken Kearney in the final.

For someone with a professional career ultimately in mind - "It has always been my dream to go pro, but not for another three years or so," he said - the chance to rub shoulders with some of world golf's top players is something he considers important in further developing his game. Over this summer, however, that development has been quite remarkable.

Winning has become a habit for the Rathmore clubman, certainly since mid-May, when McDowell won the Atlanta Collegiate tournament to spark off a sequence that has landed him the Irish Close, Irish Youths', Leinster Youths', World Universities and, now, the South of Ireland.

"I can't pinpoint one exact reason why it has happened," McDowell said. "Maybe it's because I'm just playing with a lot of confidence. The big key is not seeing any bad shots. In the past, when under pressure, I'd be inclined to picture a bad shot, say, going into a bunker. Now, all I see is the flag."

Part of this philosophy he attributes to reading the books of sports psychologist Bob Rotella; but a bigger part, he confessed, is the more simple explanation "that the Americans are so confident, and it just rubs off on you".

Whatever the reason, McDowell has discovered the secret of success. And the presence of his father, Ken, and, his uncle Uel Loughrey, who is also his coach, both of whom had departed Portrush in early-morning to be part of this latest win, made the South triumph all the sweeter.

Not that the final was a one-way affair. Far from it, in fact, as Kearney, a tough and experienced competitor who had been four-under-par in dispatching Adrian Morrow in the morning semi-finals, sought to grind out a result in tough conditions. For the first time all week, the wind yesterday switched to northwest, and squally, heavy rain merely added to the discomfort.

Although McDowell went ahead at the first, Kearney levelled matters on the fifth with a birdie. And McDowell was forced to hole a clutch, 12-foot putt on the seventh for par to stay all-square.

Going up the eighth fairway, McDowell's caddie, Chris Brown, a fellow-competitor who had been knocked out in Monday's third round, turned to him and said: "You're going to have to get this started."

Not long afterwards, McDowell clicked into over-drive. A 10-footer for birdie at the ninth enabled him to turn one up, and he proceeded to win the 10th, where he rolled in a 10-footer for a winning par and raised his fist to the clouds in acknowledgement of its importance, the 12th and 13th holes to move four ahead.

An indication of the task which faced Kearney is that, despite the conditions, the only two holes he managed to win came courtesy of birdies. At the 14th, the Roscommon man's four (where McDowell suffered a rare indiscretion when missing his four-foot birdie attempt) reduced the deficit to three holes and, after the 15th was halved in bogeys (incidentally, McDowell's first dropped shot of the final), it all finished on the par three 16th.

There, with the aid of the wind at the 195-yard hole, McDowell played a quite magnificent seven-iron tee-shot which pitched eight feet short of the pin and rolled slowly by the cup until stopping 12 inches past. Kearney, who was 30 feet away, knew his fate and picked up both balls before his opponent even reached the green.

McDowell's latest win is far from the end of his season. Next week, he heads off to Austria to play in the European Individual championship, and the following week he plays in the Palmer Cup - a Walker Cupstyle universities match between Britain and Ireland and the United States - at Hoylake, before completing an international stint by competing in the Belgian Junior International the following week.

"I don't mind all the competition. In fact, if I'm not playing for three or four days, I find myself getting bored," he said.

Given his upcoming itinerary, there doesn't seem much room for boredom in McDowell's young life.