Former US Open champion and Ryder Cup star, Graeme McDowell shed some of the off season cobwebs taking part earlier this week in the 4th Annual $10,000 Timacuan Scramble at the Timacuan Golf & Country Club some 15 miles north of Orlando.

PGA Tour colleague, Rick Cochran and his team won the event with a 19-under-par 53 after defeating three other teams in a sudden-death playoff with a birdie on the par 3 16th.

Graeme McDowell endears himself to young fans at this week’s Timacuan Scramble.

However it was McDowell who proved a big winner in his first public appearance on a golf course since capturing last year’s Tiger Woods hosted World Challenge on the opposite side of the American continent.

McDowell had teamed with former PGA Tour pro, Robert Gamez, Brian DeCorso and former world long-drive champion David Mobley shooting a combined net 56.

However the Northern Irishman endeared himself to fans signing autographs and posing for photos with every junior and adult who asked.

“I really enjoyed the golf course,” said McDowell.

“It is a great layout with a links-like feel to it. It can be testy in places if you get off the beaten path, but it is a very fair course. And it is in great condition.”

This is a great golf course, especially for a format like this one,” he said. “It has a lot of risk/reward type holes. It’s is a lot of fun to play.”

McDowell will commence the official part of his 2013 season at the February 14th commencing Northern Trust Open in L.A. and where he had ended 2012 on a winning note.