Golf:With three missed cuts in his last four events, something clearly had to give. And putting in the hard yards last weekend under the watchful eye of coach Pete Cowen appears to have done the trick for Graeme McDowell as he found himself back at the business end of a leaderboard when the Players Championship got underway in Florida.
In golf, the simple numbers don’t always tell the real story. Despite those missed cuts, McDowell felt he was ready to turn the corner after and after ironing out the final glitches alongside Cowen in Orlando he set about chasing down the early pacesetter Nick Watney at Sawgrass.
By the time McDowell had taken to the course, Watney was already safely back in the clubhouse with a sparkling eight under round of 64 under his belt. With three to play, McDowell was three behind the American as the world number five rediscovered the form that has propelled him up the rankings.
The par 5s at Sawgrass always hold the key to success and McDowell made the most of his opportunities on the longer holes. Starting on 10th, where he immediately got into red figures, McDowell birdied the 12th before an eagle at the 16th. The next par 5, the second, yielded another birdie and although he would blot his copybook at the next he remains firmly in contention after holing his bunker shot at the sixth.
Watney, who won his first world title in Miami in March at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, had charged in the lead in this €6.65 million event with a stunning display earlier in the day. His round could have been even better but for a double bogey at the 14th and another dropped shot at the eighth. However, an eagle and a glut of birdies ensured he would reach the clubhouse one ahead of compatriot Lucas Glover.
“Yeah, I made a double and a bogey, so there's room for improvement,” Watney reflected after his round. “But overall I felt very much in control. I wish I could have kept going really.”
Watney missed the cut at Quail Hollow last weekend and responded in the perfect way. “I figured there were two ways to react, you either sulk about it or come here,” he added. “I decided to just get on with it and use it as motivation.”
Glover, the former US Open champion who won in Charlotte last weekend, also had an eagle as he moved to seven under. The only blemish was a bogey on the long 16th, where in trying for another eagle he hit his second into the lake on the right.
Mark O’Meara was third on six under while Martin Kaymer, who has the chance to regain the world number one spot off the absent Lee Westwood, was alongside a number of players one further back.
Padraig Harrington, however, has some work to do simply to avoid missing the cut. At least there was no rules controversy to contend with, but Harrington didn’t have too much to smile about after his opening salvo. Having struggled badly for consistency all season, the opening round was another case in point for the Dubliner.
On a course where he has finished runner-up twice, Harrington was considered something of a dark horse coming into this week’s event. Last week’s top-10 finish in Quail Hollow, where he escaped disqualification after sailing a fraction too close the wind on the 13th tee box, suggested his game was moving in the right direction and over the first 10 holes he did little to dispel that notion.
He couldn’t have asked for a better start, his approach to the first coming to rest within three feet of the flag, and although he would give a shot back at the next further birdies at the fourth, seventh and 10th saw him reach the 11th tee on three under and very much in contention.
But all that good work was undone within the space of two holes. A bogey at 11 was compounded by a double at the next, where he three-putted after missing the green left, and from there it was a case of damage limitation. Having almost negotiated his way home in par, another three putt would cost Harrington at the last and at one over, he will need a score in the 60s to ensure his involvement over the weekend.
