Graeme McDowell looks forward to retain the Claret Jug in Northern Ireland
The 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell moved up the leaderboard with a one-under par 69 on Friday and shared the fifth spot while heading for the final two rounds at The Open Championship.
McDowell recorded three birdies against two bogeys to settle six strokes behind the pace set by Brandt Snedeker at 10-under par halfway score.
He finished tied for the second position last month at the US Open. This time, he is once again contending hard to retain the Claret Jug in Northern Ireland, as Darren Clarke won it last year.
However, he believes that he needs to gear himself a little extra for the upcoming rounds in order to challenge the lead posted by Snedeker.
“Haven't quite gotten into fifth gear,” he said. “I'm probably still in third gear, fourth gear. I’m just gearing up”.
Meanwhile, he also stated that the target is not far away from him to catch. The only need is to maintain consistency in the game and play at least the way he did in the opening two rounds.
“Yeah, I'm six behind Brandt Snedeker, but it's just one guy,” said McDowell. “It's not like it's bunched up in front of me. I've just got to go out and keep doing what I'm doing. I'm doing a lot of things well, but I can do them better”.
Currently, there are only four players listed above him on the leaderboard including Snedeker, the opening round leader Adam Scott, Tiger Woods and Thorbjorn Olesen.
Therefore, he is not facing any strong competition, despite a huge gap of six strokes between him and the leader. “If you can be within four or five shots going into Sunday, that's right where you need to be,” he said.
In the meantime, Woods stunned his fans once again when his chip shot from the greenside bunker at the 18th hole went straight into the hole for a birdie.
Right from the start of the round, Woods looked a little disappointed with his putting and accuracy. However, a final-hole miracle turned his day into a great day in the end.
Tags: