Smart way ahead is one step at a time

GRAEME McDOWELL was on the European Tour for only a month when he won the Scandinavian Masters in Stockholm and in all probability set himself up for life.

With no problems regarding eligibility to play the full European Tour for the next 30 months is concerned, and blessed with a superb all-round game, the young Rathmore golfer is likely to quickly become Ireland's newest sporting millionaire which is magnificent to see and we wish McDowell all the best for a glittering career.

But there is another side to the coin; it is the fear that just because McDowell made the breakthrough so quickly other young Irish players will believe life on the European Tour is a piece of cake and that the path to riches for everybody else who fancies his golfing prowess is an easy one. Sadly, that is not so, and the number of youngsters who believed this but fell by the wayside is legion.