In-form McDowell prays for wind beneath his swing

THE WIND howled at The K-Club yesterday — but there was no complaint from Ireland’s man of the moment Graeme McDowell.

A childhood spent on the great Dunluce and Valley links in his native Portrush could hardly be a better grounding for what promises to be an extremely testing four days in the €3.3million Smurfit European Open.

Sunday’s spectacular closing round of 64 in the French Open bumped the 25-year-old to 10th in the European order of merit and he is nicely positioned to challenge for a European Ryder Cup place in September.