The man known as G-Mac is back, and – after a lengthy 10-week winter break from tournament action – is looking for what he calls the “X-Factor” in his bid to make a major impact on his season.
Graeme McDowell, the 2010 US Open champion, makes his seasonal debut in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am this week at the scene of his greatest career win and is, as he puts it, “raring to go.”
Although he was a three-time winner last year, twice on the European Tour (in the Volvo World Matchplay and the French Open) and once on the US Tour (in the Heritage tournament at Hilton Head), McDowell – writing in his blog for the BBC website – claimed he "hit the wall" from the US Open at Merion in June. "While my heart was beating, the body wasn't responding," he said.
Extended break
By then, McDowell had already been to the winner's enclosure on three occasions but a tired second half to the season led to him making the decision to take an extended break to recharge his batteries. "I've got to be in position to be ready for all the big events – the Majors, my title defences, the PGA play-offs (for the FedEx Cup) and of course the Ryder Cup," said McDowell of his reasoning for staying away from tournament play until now.
McDowell, who has also taken the decision to limit the number of corporate days he will undertake in the coming year, has been working extensively with his coach Pete Cowen in recent weeks. “I said to him, ‘we need to find a consistent path’ because I’d been making too many adjustments . . . I’m addressing a little bit of a lack of solid direction in my golf swing that crept in last year. Basically, I was jumping around too much on different swing themes.,” explained McDowell, looking for greater consistency – as well as that X-Factor - in his game.
McDowell, currently ranked 15th in the world, will partner his father, Kenny, in the pro-am this week where Pádraig Harrington, who has suffered back-to-back missed cuts on his last two outings in Abu Dhabi and Phoenix, will also be competing. Harrington is on a run of three tournaments to kick-start his season stateside and will also play next week's Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles. The Dubliner is on borrowed time in his bid to break into the field for the WGC-Accenture Matchplay at the end of the month.
Not playing
Whilst Harrington seeks to find the form and putting touch on the greens that will revitalise his game, Phil Mickelson, who also competes in Pebble Beach where he is a five-time winner, has taken the decision not to play in next week's event in Los Angeles or the upcoming Accenture MatchPlay.Mickelson – who also missed the tournament last year – said: "(My children) are at different schools, so that's two different spring breaks the week of LA (at Riviera) and (the) matchplay."
This week’s Joburg Open on the European Tour is one of the designated qualifying events for the British Open at Hoylake in July: the top three players not already exempt who finish in the top-10 this week will earn places in the field. There are four Irish players in Johannesburg – Damien McGrane, Peter Lawrie, Kevin Phelan and David Higgins – where Richard Sterne, a seven stroke winner over Charl Schwartzel last year, is seeking a hat-trick of titles.
