McDowell ends title drought with OHL Classic win
Irish player lands third PGA Tour title
MEXICO CITY: Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell ended a title drought of more than two years on the PGA Tour with a wonder shot to cap a spectacular play-off victory in the weather-delayed OHL Classic at Mayakoba on Monday.
McDowell sealed the win after very nearly holing out with a five-iron on the first extra hole at the El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, his approach shot grazing the rim of the cup before finishing just three feet away.
The 36-year-old tapped in for birdie at the par-four 18th to edge out Scotland’s Russell Knox and American Jason Bohn, the trio having finished the regulation 72 holes at 18-under-par 266.
McDowell, who had not won on the PGA Tour since the RBC Heritage in April 2013, closed with a five-under 66, Knox with a matching 66 and Bohn with a 68.
McDowell, who had endured a mediocre year by his own standards with just one top-10 in 15 starts on the 2014-15 PGA Tour, was thrilled to see his hard work on the practice range over the past three months finally pay off with a win.
“I’ve been dreaming of this day and I said that I was going to appreciate it when it came,” the 2010 US Open champion told reporters after clinching the third PGA Tour title of his career.
“I’m going to appreciate this one, because this year has been a grind. You go through a year like this and you think, ‘Am I finished? Am I not good enough?’ You ask yourself all the questions.
“This is a result of three or four months of grinding. I’ve been working hard on my swing ... and you’ve got to take the rough with the smooth and keep trying.”
Knox, who had led by one stroke with just one hole to play in regulation, had to settle for a runner-up spot in his bid to clinch consecutive PGA Tour titles on different continents.
“I gave it my best shot and got beat by a great birdie there,” the 30-year-old Scot said of McDowell’s stunning approach on the first extra hole.
Knox, who eight days ago won the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, was at 19-under playing the 18th at El Camaleon but hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker en route to a bogey, forcing a three-way play-off for the title.
Twenty-seven players had been unable to complete the 72 holes on Sunday after the final round was interrupted by inclement weather that led to a delay of nearly four hours.
EUROPEAN TOUR CHANGES RULES
The European Tour is reducing the number of tournaments needed for players to maintain their membership from 13, a move designed to help those playing a full season on the US PGA Tour.
European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said yesterday that the move follows “significant dialogue with all of our players’’ and that the five tournaments will exclude the four majors and the four World Golf Championships.
The mandatory 13 starts was becoming difficult to achieve for players who had fallen outside the top-50 of the world ranking, thus making them ineligible for some of the majors and WGC events.
Explaining the move, Pelley said: “One of the reasons was simple: it is to help some of the players that have been entrenched in the US... This, I believe, will allow our players to schedule more efficiently, schedule at the beginning of the year, so they know exactly how they are going to maintain their membership.
“We are in the midst of structuring our overall Tour in a more, what I call, playersfirst philosophy. That will be something that will be absolutely critical for us.’’
The new membership regulations will apply for the 2016 Race to Dubai schedule.
Speaking ahead of the season-ending WGC event at Jumeirah Golf Estates, Pelley also said the European Tour needed to match the financial draw of the US PGA, particularly for younger players breaking through on the circuit.
“At this particular time, if you are a young player, and you have done very well in the European Tour, and you want to make the most money, you are going to go play in America,’’ he said. “You will ask: ‘How are you actually going to have our people play more often here in Europe?’ The answer is very simple. We need to provide a viable alternative to the PGA Tour for our elite, medium and lowranked players. End of story.’’