US PGA: Sometimes you've got to grab the crumbs that fall from the table and be grateful for small mercies.

Graeme McDowell's season of majors for 2006 finished with yesterday's US PGA here, where he signed for a 72 that left him on 287, one under.

But unlike the desolation that engulfed him after his final rounds in both the US Open and the British Open, the 27-year-old Ulsterman departed with what amounted to a spring in his step.

"All in all, I'm actually happy with the progress I've made this week. I feel I can finish really, really strongly this year. I've a lot to look forward to," said McDowell.

He will fulfils his minimum 15-tournament commitment to the US Tour by playing in this week's Reno-Tahoe Open in Nevada, before returning to Europe for a stint that takes in the BMW International, the Swiss Masters and the Madrid Open.

In Saturday's third round, McDowell had trouble getting the ball into the hole as his putter turned cold, while yesterday's concluding round brought a mixture of five birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey that nevertheless had him looking on the positives rather than the negatives of golfing life.

Last month, after finishing the British Open with a final-round 79 that plunged him down the field to tied-61st, McDowell admitted to being "pretty much a broken man . . . I was ready to take the rest of the year off, I was beat up, very down and disappointed."

But two weeks R&R enabled his mind and body to recover, and there is a new zest about his demeanour as he sets about competing, mainly in Europe, for the rest of the season.

As things stand, McDowell is so far down the US Tour money list that, unless he does something special in Reno, he is unlikely to retain his tour card for next season.

That prospect, however, doesn't unduly bother him as he has already decided that the best route to returning to the world's top 50 is by focusing on the European Tour.

"You know, I'm not worried about my PGA Tour card at all. Right now, the short-term plan is to get back to Europe and get my confidence back. I feel I've got to get back into an environment where I feel like I'm one of the best players, where I'm familiar with the golf courses.

"I'm not going to go chasing my PGA Tour card for the rest of the year. Sure, I'm going to Reno with expectations. I'm playing well. If it happens, great. If it doesn't, I'm not going to be too bothered.

"The rest of the year and the start of next year is about getting back into the top 50 in the world and I feel I can do that best in Europe, so that's the plan going forward."

At the start of the year, McDowell had great hopes, and decided to play mainly in the United States. But a run of six straight missed cuts in strokeplay tournaments sapped his confidence.

Then, after deciding to return working with coach Claude Harmon and getting his swing back where he wanted it to be, a couple of administrative errors with entries meant he didn't get into the Bay Hill or the Players.

He explained: "I ended up sitting out four or five weeks at a time when I felt I was playing well.

"I got really frustrated and really down. Then all of a sudden I went on a run when I played 16 out of 17 weeks.

"I started chasing things, and the run just went on and on to the point of view that the Sunday of the British Open I was a broken man.

"Next year, I'm going to be a lot more disciplined with my schedule."