G-Mac ends dry patch in desert
A Middle eAst swing that began in Abu dhabi with a first victory in four years for lee Westwood concluded in saudi Arabia yesterday with one for another popular fortysomething, Graeme Mcdowell — his first on the european tour since 2014.
You wouldn’t have thought the desert the obvious place to go to end a drought but, if this first leg of the new season has demonstrated anything, it’s the wisdom of that old saying about class standing firm in the face of the fickleness of form.
this time last year, Mcdowell stood 262nd in the world, so no wonder he became emotional at the thought of tiptoeing back inside the top 50, following his one-stroke victory over defending champion dustin Johnson.
‘it’s come a bit faster than i expected to be honest, but i’m excited at the direction in which my game is travelling,’ said the 40-year- old Northern irishman, who shot a final-round 70. ‘i want to get back up there one more time for my two young kids, so i don’t have to pull out Youtube videos and go on about the good old days.’
if truth be told, this wasn’t among the prettiest of his 15 worldwide wins but that perhaps made it more admirable, as he dug one out of the dirt — or rather, the sand. Uncharacteristically off-key with his driver, he was just one shot ahead with five holes to play with the breeze gathering strength off the adjacent Red sea.
it was always the case that when the chips were down the real G-Mac emerged, and so it was once more. His two best shots of the day to that point to set up a birdie at the 14th were followed by two more for another at the 15th. What a marvellous example of resolve this was in the heat of a sunday afternoon.
Alongside him was Frenchman Victor dubuisson. this was the first time they had played together since the 2014 Ryder Cup, when G-Mac played the role of patriarch to perfection and guided his protege to three wins out of three at Gleneagles. Here was a vastly different tale, as dubuisson melted away.
instead the challenge came from expensive American imports, Johnson and Phil Mickelson. For the latter, this was his first decent performance in almost a year — not to mention the first since his dramatic weight-loss — as he took home a share of third spot.