McDowell now feels he can have a major say

TOUR NEWS:THE NEXT entry in Graeme McDowell's tournament diary is the US Open at Pebble Beach next week, which is rather appropriate timing given his masterful win in the Wales Open on Sunday.

Now, as never before, the 30-year-old Ulsterman is ready to contend in the majors. As he put it yesterday upon returning home to Portrush for a brief respite and celebration before flying on the United States today, “I’m playing as good as ever, am fit and healthy, and swinging better than I ever have. I’m right on track.”

McDowell’s win in Celtic Manor – his fifth on the European Tour – moved him up to 36th in the world rankings and, with an eye on the Ryder Cup at the same venue in October, to within one place of an automatic place on the team. One of the congratulatory text messages he received was from Europe captain Colin Montgomerie.

And while playing in the Ryder Cup is one of his season’s priorities, McDowell is facing into what he describes as “an exciting summer” which involves three majors – the US Open, the British Open at St Andrews and the US PGA at Whistling Straits – as well as the 3 Irish Open at Killarney, which is a tournament he is also looking forward to in his schedule.

“How do you win majors?” he pondered. “I think the more experience you gain etc etc lets you approach them more calmly and with more patience. You’ve got to believe in your game and you don’t want to build them up into something they’re not. Sure they’re special, but you must stay calm and confident and accept the fact that par is a great score.

“Am I ready to win one? Yes, I believe I am. You’ve got to hit the shots and you’ve got to get the breaks and be in contention on a Sunday . . . . you’ve got to have experience in the majors and put yourself into the pot a couple of times. But I feel like I’ve been out here on tour for eight years now and I’ve had as many ups and downs as many guys. But I’ve also learnt that you have to enjoy moments like this and that you’re learning all the time.”

This win in Wales wasn’t achieved overnight, however. Rather, the long hours McDowell has put in on the range, putting green and in the gym combined to bring a measure of deliverance.

“I don’t think people realise how much work we put in. It can be a frustrating game, and if your game is gone a little it beats you up. But I knew all the work I’d done with my coach Pete Cowen since last September had left me turning the corner, and that I’d just not quite been scoring.

“I’ve a good team behind me. Pete. Kenny Comboy, my caddie for the past four years on the road. Conor (Ridge) and the boys (at Horizon) who help keep my feet on the ground and my life running.”

One other thing which paid off for McDowell over the weekend was his ability to stay patient, a discussion he’d had with Shane Lowry at dinner on the Saturday night. Indeed, McDowell entered the final few holes of Friday’s second round on or around the cut line – “I dug deep those last few holes on Friday” – and, then as he described it, “played great stuff over the weekend, burned it up Saturday and Sunday,” which underpinned the need for patience.

“It’s going to be a great Ryder Cup course because they have the options to do things with the set-up,” he added.

McDowell has some work to do to ensure he is an automatic choice, although being a course winner – and the partnership he struck up with Rory McIlroy in both the Vivendi Trophy and the World Cup last year – would surely be an influencing factor on Monty should he need a “wild card” pick.

For sure, he has a busy summer ahead of him one way or another with an extremely packed diary of events which restarts with Pebble Beach. Before that, he will have a couple of days in Lake Nona, where he hopes to meet up with one of his neighbours, Memorial tournament winner Justin Rose.

While McDowell takes a week off ahead of the US Open, Pádraig Harrington – two weeks after undergoing keyhole surgery on his knee – resumes tournament play in this week’s St Jude Classic in Memphis where he will be joined in the field by McIlroy, fresh from his top-10 finish in the Memorial.

There is a reduced Irish contingent of just four players competing in the Estoril Portuguese Open this week with Darren Clarke, Damien McGrane, Simon Thornton and Gary Murphy in action.

Des Smyth, meanwhile, will head a strong home challenge in the Handa Irish Seniors Open over the Montgomerie course at Carton House, starting on Friday. Now concentrating on the European Seniors Tour, Smyth is joined in the field by Eamonn Darcy, Denis O’Sullivan, Christy O’Connor Jnr and Peter O’Hagan.