Another win at World goes to Mcdowell
He holds off Bradley to earn his second victory in three years at the event.
Graeme McDowell kept trying to convince himself and everyone else that his game was improving, even though he had gone two years without a trophy to prove it.
That’s what made Sunday at Sherwood Country Club, in Thousand Oaks, Calif., so sweet.
With a pair of superb short-game shots on the back nine, McDowell closed with a 4-under 68 to win the World Challenge by three shots over Keegan Bradley, allowing him to head home for a 10-week break with a shot of confidence.
“It’s been too long. It’s been a hell of a two years since I sat here as a winner,” McDowell said. “We all put winning up on a pedestal as the ultimate goal. We like to say that it’s all about the process and going through the motions and trying to get better. But let’s be honest. We all measure ourselves by the win. I can say that now.”
The three-shot margin made it look easier than it was.
Sherwood was playing longer than ever in a light rain, giving an advantage to a big hitter like Bradley, not to mention tournament host Tiger Woods. Even when McDowell built a four-shot lead through 11 holes, a careless three-putt bogey on the 13th brought Bradley within two shots with five holes to play.
McDowell responded with a 75-foot putt that he lagged to tap-in range, a key moment for someone coming off a three-putt bogey. From a precarious spot behind the 17th green, he had to land his chip in the rough and hope it would hop onto the fringe and not run to far by the hole. He pulled it off perfectly.
“It was an inch away from sticking in the fringe, and about 1⁄16th of an inch away from going in the hole,” he said.
He made one last birdie he didn’t need, extending his dominance at Sherwood. It was the 10th time in 12 rounds at Sherwood that McDowell has shot in the 60s, and he now has two wins and a runner-up finish in his three trips to the World Challenge.
“This really caps off my season,” McDowell said. “We try not to put winning on a pedestal, but this one feels very sweet because it’s been a grind all year.”
McDowell won for the first time since he beat Woods in a playoff at Sherwood to close out a dream season in 2010 that included his first major at the U.S. Open and the winning point for Europe at the Ryder Cup.
Nedbank Challenge: Martin Kaymer of Germany shot a 3-under 69 to earn his first title of 2012, holding on for a two-shot victory in rainy conditions in Sun City, South Africa.
Kaymer finished at 8under 280, two ahead of Charl Schwartzel (69) of South Africa. Bill Haas of the United States was third after a 71.
Schwartzel’s bogey on No. 17 helped Kaymer’s cause.
South African Louis Oosthuizen (74) was fourth. Two-time defending champion Lee Westwood’s run at Sun City ended with a 73, seven shots behind the winner.
PGA qualifying school: Australia’s Steven Bowditch shot an 8-under 64 on PGA West’s Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course to take a onestroke lead after the fifth round of the PGA Tour qualifying tournament in La Quinta, Calif.
Bowditch had a 23under 337 total in the sixround event. The final top 25 and ties will receive 2013 PGA Tour cards and the next 50 and ties will earn Web.com Tour cards.
Kris Blanks was second after a 66, and Derek Ernst (66), Steve LeBrun (67) and Edward Loar (68) followed at 21 under. They also played the Nicklaus course.
The qualifying tournament’s final round is scheduled for today.