G-Mac’s long shot
plotter’s game has begun to look ever more at odds with the bighitting demands of US golf.
He is looking to return home to Europe, for whom he will be an assistant captain at September’s Ryder Cup, to restart the engine.
“I feel like I’m struggling to get it across the line over there. I just feel like I’m playing with pressure on my shoulders,” he said. “Having come back to Europe and getting the vice-captaincy and the weight of Ryder Cup qualification being taken off my shoulders, I can come back here and freewheel.
“It feels nice and I get the old feelings back that helped me become a top-50 player in the world and prepared me to win a Major Championship. This is where I grew up and where I feel most comfortable and it’s nice to come back and enjoy playing good golf.”
For a player who learned the game at Rathmore, next to Portrush on the Antrim coast, the Lancashire links should feel familiar, but being based in the United States changes a golfer. “My game is a hell of a lot more Americanised nowadays than it was 10 years ago. Twenty or 30-mile-an-hour winds used to be my bread and butter. They’re not any more,” he said.
McDowell has been in drift mode for some time. Down to No175 in the world rankings, he has not won since November 2015 when he took the OHL Classic on the PGA Tour.
He has admitted he fell out of love with the game as other things – namely fatherhood, with the arrival of two little ones – demanded more of his attention.
But the professional desire is back and there was a pick-up at the BMW PGA Championship a month ago with 12th place, which he backed up with fifth at the Italian Open only for two more missed cuts in the States to follow.
“My game’s been trending in the right direction. Wentworth gave me some really nice confidence which I feel is that missing X-factor with me at the minute,” said McDowell.
The trailblazer, who ended a 40-year wait for a European winner at the US Open, would love to be at the next Major, but it will have to be through the back door.