Graeme McDowell on cloud nine while Tiger Woods tastes the dust (part 2)
As mentioned in the previous part of this article, Graeme had to push his way to the top. The player became the first European in four decades the win the US Open Championship. Not only was this enough, McDowell also emerged as the Ryder Cup hero when he
holed the winning putt and led the Europeans to victory. His journey to greatness has not been easy.
He said he hasn’t really achieved much since the last six years, just making his way quietly along the courses. Up till now, he was gaining experience, putting his game to test and learning from his mistakes. It was the big 2010 that really put McDowell
on the spotlight and made him shine.
What truly made this year an unforgettable one for Graeme was his own will power and hard work. Following the Ryder Cup, the player did have a choice to just sit back and relax. But he didn’t.
"After the Ryder Cup I could have put my feet up and taken 80 for the rest of the year and still looked back and said 'great season', 'dream season', all of the above," he said. "But I didn't want to do that; I wanted to put an extra shine on the year. You
don't get many chances to win an Order of Merit, or a Race to Dubai as it is now. They might not be up there with majors, but money lists are important. They define careers."
Along with defining careers, these lists also fill up bank accounts. Seeing how Graeme is in close contention with Martin Kaymer, both the players need to perform to the best of their ability. Any mistake or bogeys in the next four days could keep them away
from a first prize of £775,000 and the bonus amount of £932,000.
He said that the world is a crazy place right now, especially in Ireland. The Irish golf fans must be pretty excited as McDowell is very close to winning the Race to Dubai. Another cause of celebration for them must be the fact that the Irish Open is still
on the European Tour. Since the company’s title sponsor, ‘3’ Mobile backed out, the future of the event looked grim but yesterday it was confirmed that it will take place in 2011.
All the people who know him, know he’s truly deserving of this. Rory McIlroy, who’s a pretty talented player himself, said that if there’s anyone who deserves the prize, it’s him. He has seen how hard Graeme has worked over the years.
His struggles are not only evident from the leader boards but also the world rankings. McDowell has even stormed past McIlroy and is now at number nine. His perspective on the 7-600 yard Earth Course has changed over a year as well. He said he doesn’t have
many good things to say about the course but it’s a good thing that he’ll be longer off the tee than he was last year.
McDowell has improved thanks to his coach Pete Cown. Cown has given Graeme the assurance that he has a chance against Kaymer. When talking about his competitor, he said mentioned how Kaymer is very fond of boxing. McDowell thinks it’s good thing that they’re
fighting with golf clubs, had it been with boxing, McDowell would be pretty injured. Just four weeks ago, Kaymer was about a million Euros ahead of McDowell. It was the win in Valderrama and his good performance in the tournaments after that cut down the margin.
With the Dubai World Championship being the cherry on top of his fantastic season, McDowell is ready to tee off against Kaymer and win the title. Whether it’s accredited to McDowell's own struggles or to Tiger’s downfall, 2010 has been one thrilling stint
for 31-year old who has plans to enter the concluding stages of this spell with a force that can amaze many.
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