McDowell the man at Celtic Manor
Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell claimed victory at the Wales Open by three strokes yesterday, holding off a rampaging Rhys Davies despite the Welshman carding a record 62 on a final round that included six birdies and two eagles.
McDowell himself hit eight birdies - six on the front nine - over a flawless round at Celtic Manor, the venue for this year's Ryder Cup. Each player will surely have done their chances of appearing for Europe at that competition no harm, with those performances sure to impress Colin Montgomerie, who is likely to welcome the diversion; Monty was making headlines of his own on Friday, but for all the wrong reasons, after a story suggesting he'd been cheating on his wife appeared in the Daily Mirror.
The Scot has admitted his actions have put his marriage under "considerable strain", but his game didn't appear overly affected by the bad press - he finished here tied for 46th place on three-over-par, but that's about what we've come to expect from the former European No. 1 in recent years.
If Montgomerie's best days are behind him though, McDowell appears to be in fine fettle, this victory making for his fifth on the European Tour - and the 30-year-old was understandably delighted. "I think it's the best final round I've ever played to win a tournament," he said. "The first 11 holes was dream golf and I am ecstatic. I feel like I'm in the form of my life right now and I really feel I have a big event in me."
Luke Donald is another Ryder hopeful, and the Englishman was third at the tournament, four birdies and an eagle seeing him finish six-under-par 65 on the day, 10-under for the competition. Scotland's Stephen Gallacher was among those tied for fourth place, along with Italy's Edoardo Molinari and England's Robert Rock, the trio all on nine-under-par.
But one-time leader Marcel Siem crumbled on the final day, the German putting two balls in the water and racking up a quadruple bogey on the 3rd to see him end the day three-over-par to finish in seventh place, eight-under-par.
That was better than his countryman Martin Kaymer, who was tied for 12th place on four under, albeit after a decent final round of 67. Still, if mainland Europe appears to be going through something of a dip in form at the moment, Monty must be bowled over by the British and Irish talent at his disposal.
Beyond this week's top three at the Wales Open, another Englishman, Justin Rose, won the Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour this weekend, while Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Paul Casey and Rory McIlroy are all ranked in the world top 10.
That's already quite a line-up, but on this evidence the less storied names like McDowell and Davies look more than capable of holding their own with those more established players.
Tags: