Graeme McDowell revival goes up a gear after Saudi International victory

Graeme McDowell’s revival took on major impetus as victory in the Saudi International – his 16th career win worldwide – catapulted him back into the world’s top 50 and has put him on course for an invitation to the US Masters in April and also next month’s WGC-Mexico Championship.

Ranked 257th in the world as recently as last March, the 40-year-old Northern Irishman's rebirth was showcased in a stunning win in the desert where he finished with a 70 for a 12-under-par total of 268, two strokes clear of defending champion Dustin Johnson.

McDowell – who earned a payday of just under €530,000 for his 11th European Tour win, and first since the French Open of 2014 – was 104th in the world rankings heading into the event in Saudi Arabia and was projected to jump to 46th in the updated standings. His second coming has been aided in no small way in his work with coach Kevin Kirk, who started working with him last year.

“Kevin said to me, ‘there’s no reason why the best golf in your career can’t still be ahead of you’. I like that. I like that kind of idea, that focus,” said McDowell, adding: “I’ve been working hard the last year and a half. I want to be back up there one more time just to be able to play against these guys . . . the game of golf is in great shape, there is so many great players in the world, it is so exciting to be a top player in the world and I want to be back up there again.

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“I have young kids at home and I want them to see me out there, I want to show them that dad is tough and dad can do it and I don’t want to have to pull up YouTube videos. It is special to be back, I am really happy with the direction I am moving with my game.

McDowell, whose only career Major win came at Pebble Beach in 2010, added: “I am excited, my big goal [for the year] was to be back in the top 50 and it came a bit faster than expected. I missed the cut in Dubai, but knew I played well.

“Sometimes you see a course that fits your eye but there were a lot of shots on this course made me uncomfortable. It’s weird, it’s tough to win on a course that doesn’t fit your eye, so this is a sweet one . . . it’s been 10 years since I won a US Open, 10 years probably since I played the best golf of my life. I feel like I’m moving back in the right direction.”

McDowell’s last appearance in the Masters was in 2016 and he will make a return to Augusta if he stays inside the world’s top 50 for the final qualifying cut-off date the week before the tournament.

Shane Lowry closed with a one-under 69 to finish on five under and in share of 13th position alongside Martin Kaymer, Pablo Larrazábal and China’s Ashan Wu.

FINAL SCOREBOARD

British and Irish unless stated, par 70

268 Graeme McDowell 64 68 66 70

270 Dustin Johnson (USA) 67 68 68 67

271 Phil Mickelson (USA) 66 70 68 67, Gavin Green (Mal) 64 67 70 70, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 70 67 69 65

273 Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 69 65 65 74, Abraham Ancer (Mex) 69 70 67 67, Ross Fisher 66 68 71 68, Sergio Garcia (Esp) 69 68 70 66, Thomas Detry (Bel) 73 66 65 69

274 Dean Burmester (Rsa) 71 68 68 67, Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 68 71 67 68

275 Shane Lowry 69 67 70 69, Ashun Wu (Chn) 71 66 68 70, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 73 64 73 65, Pablo Larrazabal (Esp) 69 68 74 64

276 Brooks Koepka (USA) 70 69 65 72, Ian Poulter 72 68 65 71, Jack Senior 71 69 71 65, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 65 71 71 69

277 Steven Brown 71 70 69 67, Haotong Li (Chn) 70 71 70 66, Richie Ramsay 70 70 69 68, Stephen Gallacher 70 71 70 66, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa) 68 73 67 69, Richard McEvoy 69 68 71 69

278 Adri Arnaus (Esp) 65 74 67 72, Adrian Meronk (Pol) 68 70 70 70, David Howell 68 69 71 70, Alexander Bjork (Swe) 68 69 71 70, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 66 75 69 68, Grant Forrest 73 66 66 73, Renato Paratore (Ita) 68 65 70 75, Aaron Rai 66 71 71 70, Andy Sullivan 66 71 73 68, Lucas Herbert (Aus) 67 71 72 68, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 71 69 67 71

279 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 67 69 73 70, Sebastian Soderberg (Swe) 65 73 72 69, Victor Perez (Fra) 65 65 73 76, Adrian Otaegui (Esp) 69 71 68 71, Sean Crocker (USA) 68 68 72 71, Alexander Levy (Fra) 69 70 70 70

280 Matt Wallace 70 68 71 71, Joost Luiten (Ned) 67 72 71 70, Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 70 69 71 70, Francesco Laporta (Ita) 67 68 72 73, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 69 72 66 73, James Morrison 69 68 73 70, Jeff Winther (Den) 69 68 72 71, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 65 70 70 75

281 Maverick Antcliff (Aus) 70 69 72 70, Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 69 70 70, Connor Syme 69 71 69 72, Nacho Elvira (Esp) 72 66 72 71

282 Marcus Kinhult (Swe) 67 68 78 69, Justin Harding (Rsa) 68 73 67 74, Kalle Samooja (Fin) 72 68 71 71, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 69 69 71 73, Ashley Chesters 73 67 69 73, Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) 68 66 76 72, Fabrizio Zanotti (Pry) 68 72 69 73, Jordan Smith 71 67 67 77, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 69 70 73 70, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 73 66 72 71, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 71 69 72 70

283 Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 74 67 71 71, Justin Walters (Rsa) 71 65 75 72

284 Scott Jamieson 73 67 71 73

285 Antoine Rozner (Fra) 72 68 69 76, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 72 69 72 72

286 Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 70 71 67 78, Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) 73 68 71 74

287 Haydn Porteous (Rsa) 72 67 73 75, Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 67 70 78 72

289 Julien Guerrier (Fra) 75 65 79 70