Graeme McDowell reckons after one of the worst seasons of his career he longs for the day his two children will be able to run onto a final green in celebration of future success.
McDowell finds himself in Mexico for this week’s defence of the PGA Tour Mayakoba Classic and his only victory since successfully defending the 2014 French Open.
But after easily missing out on European Ryder Cup selection, McDowell bounced back to some in finishing 4th in the recent British Masters.
McDowell had finished 5th in the Wyndham Championship in August, and his last event to impress Darren Clarke ahead of Clarke announcing his Hazeltine ‘wildcard’ picks, and while McDowell was clearly not in frame, he was more delighted to write off not being picked and focus all his energies on making the 2018 European Team.
Twelve months ago Graeme McDowell ended a then 31 month winless drought winning ‘Mexico’s Major’. It’s now been a 12 months since he last tasted success.(Photo – www.pgatour.com)
Though he’s also dropped to No. 81 on the World Rankings, the now father of two is quietly confident of clawing his way back to the form that saw him ranked No. 6 in capturing his first French Open title in 2013.
“I certainly hope we haven’t seen the best of Graeme McDowell,” he said.
“I feel like I continue to get smarter and get better and learn more about the sport.
“So I certainly feel like I’ve got more in me, and I want more, and I feel like I continue to get better.
“No, I don’t think you’ve seen the best. I think I certainly feel fresher, and like I mentioned, more motivated than I have been in a long time, and I certainly would like to play really hard for the next six or seven years, and I have that vision and that dream of winning a tournament and having my kids come running onto the 72nd green.
“That’s kind of one of the visions and one of the kind of visuals that are motivating me right now, and of course a major championship, I’d love to try and put one more of those on the board if possible.
“But as the standard of the game just continues to get better year after year, I know I’ve got to play hard and I’ve got to play well.
“So I’m just very motivated and looking forward to the next few years.”
Joining McDowell this week in the sixth event of the new 2016/17 wraparound season is Waterford’s Seamus Power who is looking to make it the ‘cuts’ in succession.
