McDowell becomes first mid-Atlantic winner of US Open

”THE British are coming!” Colin Welland wasn’t talking about golf during his acceptance speech at the Oscars over twenty years ago but it seems an apt comment after a majestic start to the season by our homegrown players on the US Tour. Wins by Ian Poulter, Rory Mcllroy, Justin Rose, Lee Westwood and, perhaps most memorably, Graeme McDowell have placed European Golf at the very pinnacle. Indeed, on an intriguing final day at Pebble Beach, McDowell became our first golfer to win the US Open after Tony Jacklin at Hazeltine in 1970. Playing in the final pairing it would be fair to say that he did not play scintillating golf – 3 over 74 – but, after seeing his own playing partner,Johnson, implode with an 82 and Major winners like Els, Mickelson and Woods seemingly intent on giving shots back to the course after threatening a charge, he did not really need to. A par on the 18th was enough for the Portrush lad to give his waiting father the best Father’s Day present he could have wished for. Spare a thought for Frenchman Gregory Havret though. This was a golfer ranked 391st in the world prior to start of play. He only gained classification into the event courtesy of a 50 foot putt on the 18th to get into a 6 man playoff at a qualifying event at Sunningdale. A subsequent 20 footer on the next guaranteed his passage. In the final round his swing belittled his world ranking as he made light of partnering Tiger Woods; only failing to force a playoff by not making sand saves on the 17th and 18th. This was no Van de Velde meltdown though in a US Open by name and truly open in nature. So congratulations to Graeme McDowell who kept us awake into the early hours. Your swing certainly doesn’t need any tweaking but, geez man, could you please do something about that irritating drawl? We want you firmly on the European side during the Ryder Cup.

Tags: British, Championship