Graeme McDowell says career year may not have happened without Tiger Woods
If you want to draw any positives from Tiger Woods’ infidelity scandal, which began last November when he crashed his car into a fire hydrant, marring his image and his golf game, just
ask the reigning U.S. Open champion.
Graeme McDowell won the 2010 U.S. Open back in June for his first major championship, kicking off the best year of his career. But if it wasn’t for the travails of Woods, he might not
even have been in the field at Pebble Beach.
With the troubles of Woods in full swing, he pulled out of the Chevron World Challenge, the annual event that he hosts every December. Woods’ vacant spot was given to McDowell, who was
ranked 46th in the world at the time. McDowell, who thought his season was over, had fond memories of the call from his agent.
"I think the stars just aligned and I happened to get a very, very lucky invite, really," McDowell told the media at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.
Last year was the first time that Woods’ event awarded world ranking points and McDowell took advantage with a second-place finish, helping him to finish the 2009 season ranked 39th in
the world. Five months later, McDowell entered the BMW Championship ranked 50th in the rankings and finished in a T28, keeping him just inside the top-50, automatically qualifying himself for the U.S. Open. It’s conceivable that without Woods’ withdrawal and
McDowell’s runner-up finish at the Chevron, the latter may have missed out on the event.
"Yeah, kind of a bizarre story,” said McDowell. “The small things that happen in your life can kind of shape into bigger things, you know what I mean?”
“Without Chevron, perhaps I’m outside of that window and maybe I’m not even at Pebble Beach. It’s amazing how things happen.”
One thing led to another as McDowell’s U.S. Open win secured him a spot on the European Ryder Cup team contested in early October in Wales.
And all he did there was come out on top in the final match of the singles session to clinch the cup for Europe.
"There's no doubt that the pieces fell into place, and OK, I didn't have a great start to the season, but still, I was practicing away and playing in the best events," he said. "No doubt,
that's what got me ready for Wales and the U.S. Open and what went on to happen at the Ryder Cup.”
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