IF IT’S horses for courses then Graeme McDowell must surely be in line to make his second Ryder Cup appearance at Celtic Manor in October after he won the Wales Open in fine style over the TwentyTen layout yesterday.
McDowell was the star of the show but had to make room centre stage for Rhys Davies, for between them they had the galleries in the Welsh valleys eating out of the palm of their hands.
The final round offered-up plenty of low scores, none better than Davies’ as he stormed into contention with a course record 62. For all his efforts though, it wasn’t enough to challenge McDowell, who kept his best golf for the weekend, with Saturday’s 64 before yesterday’s final round 63 for a 15-under-par 269 aggregate to win by three from the Welshman, who was runner-up for the second consecutive week.
Luke Donald, last week’s Madrid Masters winner, was third on 10 under after a closing 65.
“You have to play good golf to score well around here, thankfully I did that this weekend,” said McDowell who picked up the €350,940 winner’s cheque and moved to 10th place on the European Ryder Cup points list.
Although that’s not an automatic slot on Colin Montgomerie’s team, McDowell believes the win is the perfect start to a busy summer. “I feel like I’m in the form of my life right now and very excited about my golf. There are so many great events coming up and I just have to keep doing what I’m doing. I know I have a really big event in me.”
McDowell started the day four shots off the overnight lead held by Marcel Siem but the German’s challenge came to an abrupt end when he recorded a quadruple- bogey seven at the par three third after finding the water twice. He eventually signed for a 74 to drop back to seventh on eight under.
Meanwhile up ahead, McDowell and Davies were picking off birdies for fun as both found their touch with the blade. Davies carded six birdies and two eagles at eight and 15 with his only dropped shot coming at the 16th.
McDowell made his move with no less then eight birdies in his opening 11 holes. From there he consolidated his position with seven straight pars coming home.
Impressive as the birdies were, his par on the “brutal” 16th was crucial. Unable to reach the par four in two into the breeze he pitched to 25 feet and holed the par putt to maintain his momentum.
By that stage McDowell knew he was in the lead but only allowed himself to look at a leaderboard for the first time at the 14th.
“My caddie Ken (Comboy) said ‘I’ll tell you what you need to know’. I felt like something was going on with Rhys making a move because you could hear the crowds so I asked Ken ‘how many am I ahead?’ He joked ‘you’re actually one behind. No seriously, you are three ahead’ so he told me to just keep the pedal down.”
The win was McDowell’s fifth European Tour success and his first since winning the 2008 Scottish Open at Loch Lomond. This season he has amassed €760,509 from 11 events and is 12th in the Race to Dubai standings.
“I’m really looking forward to getting to Pebble Beach for the US Open,” added the winner. “The Monday after Wentworth was a huge step for me, staying inside the world’s top 50 ensured my invite to Pebble and St Andrews for the Open. It’s like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.”
“This will be a great Ryder Cup venue and it has a spectacular finish,” added McDowell, echoing Montgomerie’s assessment of the venue. “The golf course stands up and will allow the best team to win – hopefully that will be us.
Peter Lawrie and Damien McGrane both carded level par 71s to finish two under, while Gareth Maybin made up ground with a 68 to get to one under.
Darren Clarke (73) and Shane Lowry (74) finished two over then headed to Sunningdale for today’s British Open qualifying. Simon Thornton shot his second 73 of the weekend and dropped to five over.
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