Graeme McDowell was delighted this month’s Saudi International victory got him back in the world’s top 50 for the first time in five years – and a start in the WGC-Mexico Championship.
Picture by GETTY IMAGES

GRAEME McDowell tees it up in his first World Golf Championships event since 2016 at the WGC-Mexico Championship this week.

And the Northern Irishman is excited about the challenge of taking on a new course, at Chapultec Golf Club.

McDowell said: “I’ve played a lot of WGCs in my career and I think you do take them for granted a little. They are amazing tournaments when you get the best players from all over the world to come together here in Mexico.

“It’s the first time seeing the golf course for me and it’s a great track, reminds me a little of Valderrama – and obviously you’ve got the altitude so the ball goes a long way. But I’m excited to be back in these WGC events.

“It’s important for me, if I have aspirations of being in the Ryder Cup team, that I’ve got to be in the WGCs and Major Championships.

“So it’s really important to take that first step, to get my schedule to where it needs to be and hopefully I can kick on from here.

“We’re here to do a job this week. This is certainly not some icing on the cake from the win out in Saudi Arabia.

“This is about kicking on into the rest of the season and using these events as platforms to get where I want to be.”

Thirty-nine-year-old GMac claimed his 11th European Tour title at the Saudi International, earlier this month.

It was his first victory on the tour in six years and one which moved him inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in five years.

That in turn earned him a place in the field for this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship, and McDowell – who will host this year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in May – is not taking it lightly as he strives to reach his goal of a return to the European Ryder Cup team in September.

Another Irishman targeting a place in Padraig Harrington’s side is Open Champion and a former World Golf Championships winner Shane Lowry, who returns to action after a two-week break.

Lowry is playing his first WGC since claiming the Claret Jug, having missed the Fedex St Jude Invitational while celebrating his Open win at Royal Portrush,

A refreshed Lowry, who claimed the WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, in 2015, said: “I’ve had a nice couple of weeks off.

“I had four weeks in a row at the start of the year so it’s a long four weeks when it’s the first run of the year.

“I felt like I played OK in Dubai and Saudi and I’m happy to be over here now, in Mexico this week and in the USA for the next couple of months.

“Hopefully I can put in a few good performances,” said Shane.

“Obviously I’ve won a WGC before so it’s nice and it’s a very tricky golf course here this week in Mexico.

“It’s going to take a lot of good golf to do well here, so we’ll see how it goes.

“I wouldn’t be overly optimistic but I never usually am and I try to come in under the radar and do my thing for the week.

“Hopefully I can pop up on the leaderboard come Saturday afternoon and give it a run on Sunday.”

Kinhult ready for WGC debut

Betfred British Masters winner Marcus Kinhult at Hillside GC, in May

MARKUS Kinhult, meanwhile, is one of 11 European Tour members making their debut in Mexico, and one of two – alongside Benjamin Hebert – to be playing in a World Golf Championships event for the first time.

Swede Kinhult, who won the Betfred British Masters at Hillside, in May, said: “I think it will be a lot of fun this week.

“Obviously I’ve been looking forward to this event since I got in. It’s my first WGC so playing against these guys is nice, to see where your game is at and how you can compete.

“I came here earlier than normal, late Saturday so I had Sunday to just walk around and get to know the place a little bit.

“I played the course, did my numbers and did my drills as I always do on every tournament week so it’s not too different.

“I’m happy to be here at 23, that’s nice, but my goals are set higher long term and I’m just trying to reach the next level and improve every day.

“But I’m happy with the progression so far and I look forward to what comes next,” who announced his potential when winning the Lytham Trophy by eight shots in 2015.

The teeanger, who played in the Summer Olympics for Sweden in 2014, led the Nordea Masters after 36 holes a month after his win at Royal Lythyam.

The son of a golf pro, who was a junior member at the same Swedish club where Berkshire’s Barry Lane and fellow European Tour member Joel Sjöholm are members, turned pro later in 2015.

But the Junior Ryder Cup player only made two cuts in his first season on Tour in 2016, having earned his card at the European Tour Qualifying School, at Spain’s PGA de Catalunya.

•For tee times in the WGC-Mexico Championship, click here.

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Graeme McDowell claimed is 11th European Tour victory with a two-shot win over Dustin Johnson the defending champion in the Saudi International. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

GRAEME McDowell showed the kind of determination which helped GMac become a Major Champion as he claimed his first European Tour win in six years at the second Saudi International.

The Northern Irelander, who grew up playing links golf at Portrush, battled to a final round 70 to pick up a cheque for €529,337 – and a victory that propelled him back into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.

McDowell, who won in the Dominican Republic on the PGA Tour last year – having languished as far down as 238th on the OWGR at the end of 2018 – finished on 12-under par at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.

That was two shots clear of defending champion Dustin Johnson, and good enought to claim his 11^th European Tour title – and first since the 2014 Open de France – a wait of 2,037 days.

An emotional McDowell, who is now ranked 47th in the world, said: “I didn’t realise it had been quite that long since I’d won here in Europe.

“I’m very excited. I’m very relieved. This is a difficult golf course,” said the former Rathmore Golf Club junior, who won six times in his final year at the University of Alabama, back in 2002.

The player known as GMac around the world added: “It’s unusual to win feeling as uncomfortable as I did on a lot of these holes because it was a tough golf course these last two days, especially with tough conditions.

“The birdies on 14 and 15 were just huge at the time, and it was nice to have a that little cushion coming down the last couple.

“My big goal this year was to be back in the Top 50 in the world, back competing in the big tournaments,” said McDowell, who was last guaranteed starts in the four Majors, back in 2015 at the US Open.

“I’m very excited that it’s happened a little faster than I expected, but hopefully it’s laying some foundations down for having a big year,” said the European player, who holed the winning putt in the 2010 Ryder Cup, at Celtic Manor.

“I really feel like I’m moving in the right direction, and it’s weeks like this that really give that you which I can additional effect and hopefully I can use it,” added McDowell, who was captured on TV calling his children as he walked to the scorer’s hut after holing the winning putt in Saudi.

“It’s been 10 years since I won a US Open, 10 years probably since I played the best golf of my life.

“I feel like I’m moving back in the right direction. I’ve got my head around what I’m trying to do with the swing and what I’m trying to do with the golf ball again, thanks to Kevin Kirk, who I started working with last August – and Pete Cowen, who has been by my side for many, many years.

“Kenny on the bag there – I have a solid team. Life’s settled down. I’ve got a great wife and great family.

“I’m very happy with what’s going on in my life right now. I feel like the pond, the ripples in the pond have kind of steadied out a little bit now, and I’m in a good place to play some good golf.”

And while McDowell admits wanting to impress his young children is a major motivation for his charge back up the world rankings, he acknowledged competing on Tour today takes even more than it did at his peak a decade ago.

Graeme, who began the week at 104th in the OWGR, said: “There’s so many great players in the world now.

“I’ve got young kids at home, and I want them to see me out there. I want to show them that dad’s tough. Dad can still do it.

“I didn’t want them to have to pull up YouTube videos,” said GMac.

“I’m really happy with the direction I’m moving with my game. Massive to have weeks like this.”

Graeme McDowell tees off on the 17th hole on his way to victory in the Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

GMac held off Dubuisson & Johnson

FORTY-year-old McDowell, who won the 2010 US Open, at Pebble Beach, held a one-shot overnight lead over his 2014 Ryder Cup partner Victor Dubuission going into Sunday’s final round.

But GMac bogeyed the opening hole, and after a scrappy front nine the pair reached the turn tied at the top of the leaderboard.

McDowell birdied the eight hole and bogeyed the ninth, while Dubuisson birdied the third and fifth, but dropped shots at the fourth and sixth.

Frenchman Dubuisson could not mount a challenge after the turn though, carding a four-over par back nine of 39 in his round of 74 – to finish tied sixth on seven-under.

Instead, the main threat came from inaugural Saudi International winner Johnson, who eagled the final hole for a round of 67 to post the clubhouse target of 10-under, while Belgian Thomas Pieters signed for a 65 and a nine-under total earlier, after missing eagle attempt on the last.

McDowell bounced back from a bogey on 13^th hole with back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th holes.

The four-time Ryder Cup player took a two-shot lead down the last and despite leaving his third shot short of the green from a greenside bunker, he made par to claim a memorable victory.

He became the second Ryder Cup player in his 40s to win during the Middle East swing after Lee Westwood’s Rolex Series victory in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship two weeks ago.

And thankfully, the controversy of Friday’s second round, when GMac was given a formal slow play warning after taking part in an on-course interview with Sky Sports’ Tim Barter – a second slow time would have cost him an automatic one-shot penalty under the European Tour’s new policy – did not come back to haunt him over the weekend.

Johnson finished runner-up while Pieters shared third place with five-time Major champion Phil Mickelson, who closed with a 67 and Malaysia’s Gavin Green, who had been second with 36 holes to play, having shared the first-round lead with McDowell.

Johnson rues problems putting in the wind

DUSTIN Johnson’s recovery from his knee surgery last summer continued in the Middle East.

But the former World No. 1 admitted he could have pushed GMac harder in his defence of the Saudi crown.

Johnson, who won the US Open in 2016, said: “It was another day where it could have been a lot better. I’m happy with the way I’m playing.

“It was difficult to putt, though. It was really hard to make putts. I hit a lot of really good shots, and really good chances for birdie.

“You know, when you’ve got a left-to-right slope and you’re playing it outside the right, it’s tough.

“I was still missing them left. It was just hard to judge how much the wind was actually going to move the ball.

“I’m pleased with the way I played, but I would have liked to give Graeme a little more pressure coming down the stretch.

“I had some really good chances. I missed a real short one on 13, a close one on 14, 15, and 17.

“I had all the chances, but I did finally make a nice putt on 18 to finish.”

•For full results at the Saudi International click here.

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