Irish Open: Graeme McDowell relishes return to home soil – Golf news
Graeme McDowell is relishing the opportunity to return to his home soil, where he is scheduled to participate in the Irish Open, slated to start from June 27, 2013.
The tournament is set to be staged at the Carton House Golf Club, featuring some of the best players on the European Tour.
The Irish Open is known for attracting a strong field each season. This year too, the event has reeled in some prominent names, including the likes of former world number one Rory McIlroy, three-time Major Champion Padraig Harrington and the former Open
winner Darren Clarke.
McDowell is currently being lauded as one of the strongest contenders for the title this week, courtesy of his brilliant form this season.
He recorded top-five finishes in each of the first two World Golf Championships of the season, followed by victories in RBC Heritage and the Volvo World Match Play Championship.
At the same time, the Ryder Cup star missed the cut in each of the first two major golf championships of the season, the Masters Tournament and the US Open.
Yet, he insists that the missed cuts cannot change his wins into defeats and this will still be a great season for him so far.
“Consistency is fractionally overrated, there's no doubt about that,” he said. “This week is about your big weeks; it's not about your bad weeks. As much as it hurts coming down the stretch at Merion knowing that I'm heading for my second missed the cut
on the spin, it hurts, and it's disappointing, it's frustrating.”
“In the big picture, my season will still read very strong. My season will still read two wins, two top fives in WGCs, and I wouldn't swap that season for last year's season - 12th at the Masters, second at the U.S. Open,” he added.
McIlroy, in the meantime, is hoping to return to his form, when he will tee off in front of his home fans this week. He has been able to perform well so far this season and also lost the number one spot in the Official World Golf Rankings.
This week, he believes that the local support will greatly help him in returning to the form that allowed him to become the second player in the history of the game to win money list titles on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour.
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