Graeme McDowell has celebrated his recent engagement and ended a two-year winless drought in capturing the Tiger Woods hosted World Challenge in suburban L.A.
G Mac shone brightly on a dismal rainy last day of his final event for 2012 winning by three shots with a four under par 68 for a 17-under par on the Sherwood Country Club course.
The Northern Irishman, watched by his finacee Kristan Stape, ended with a birdie on 18 to collect a first prize cheque for $US 1.2m for his first victory since defeating the touranment host two years ago.
Graeme McDowell upstages the tournament host for a second time in three years to win the World Challenge. (Photo – www.pgatour.com)
And McDowell’s success is the fifth by a member of the victorious 2012 Ryder Cup since the Miracle at Medinah.
Earlier on Sunday, Germany’s Martin Kaymer won his first event of the year in capturing the Nedbank Golf Challenge to join Sweden’s Peter Hanson (BMW Masters), Ian Poulter (WGC – HSBC Champions) and Rory McIlroy (DP World Tour Championship) as winners since the staging of the Ryder Cup.
McDowell held a final round challenge from American Keegan Bradley who finished second on 14-under par.
“It’s been a very fun week,” said the 33-year old McDowell.
“It’s always a very relaxed atmosphere until we get down to the nitty gritty on the weekend.
“The start today was incredibly difficult. The ball was going nowhere. You know, I thought if we had to play 18 holes in those type of conditions today it was really going to be a hard grind. We really got lucky every day with the weather. It really brightened up for a couple of hours today and gave us an opportunity to play golf.
“Keegan really pushed me today. He played great, and we really separated ourselves from the field and kind of made it the Match Play type vibe.
“But I’m just over the moon to kind of get the job done. It’s been too long.
“It’s been a hell of a two years since I sat here as a winner. And we all put winning kind of up on a pedestal of the ultimate goal.
“We like to say that it’s all about the processes and going through the motions and trying to get better. But let’s be honest, we all measure ourselves by the wins. I can say that now.
“For two years I’ve been saying things like processes and trying to get better and be patient and hopefully the wins will come.
“So I’m just relieved really to have ‑‑ so I guess I got fed up with telling everybody that I’m playing well, playing well. I guess I’m relieved to get across the line and take some nice confidence into this little off period I’ve got coming up.”
