McDowell seeks to crunch the numbers

EVEN though he arrived in Bethpage after a sparkling final round of 63 in the St Jude Classic in Memphis on Sunday, Graeme McDowell isn’t approaching his fourth appearance at the US Open in confident mood.

The 29 year-old from Portrush admits that “apart from a 17th at Augusta and a 13th at Wentworth, I hadn’t a lot to show for myself before last Sunday”, and is frustrated 2009 hasn’t lived up to the previous season when he captured the Ballantynes Championship in Korea followed by the valuable Barclays Open at Loch Lomond.

“I’ve been doing all the right things and working hard and getting close, close, close but numbers are everything.

“I hit a few more fairways on Sunday and made a few more putts. When you’re playing well, there’s a thin line between shooting 65 and 72.

“It’s those five, six, seven, eight footers that keep a round alive, converting birdies, par saves, and away you go.

“And there’s no doubt when players are confident, that’s what they do best. Last week was a preparation week. I was lucky to get a last-minute invite to Memphis. Thankfully, I’ve never had a problem with going low, 61 at the Irish Open, 63 last week, and it gives you a massive boost when you can do that.”

But he doesn’t expect such low scores at Bethpage Black.

“63 could happen here – if you left out the last four or five holes,” he laughed. “This place is a different kettle of fish. You’ve got to recalibrate the system. Five under par is not something you could think about this week. 72 or 73 is a great score. I’ve played 36 holes here and that’s been a shock to the system. The course is wet, it’s long, it’s tough, not tough in the same way as Pinehurst or Oakmont or Augusta. It’s just a slog.

“You lose count of how many hybrids and long irons you hit to par fours. There are only two par fives on the card, but it feels like there are seven or eight out there. It’s a crazy golf course.

“I hit good drives and hybrids to four or five par fours this morning and that’s with the pins in the middle of the greens, that’s without them being tucked away.”

All of which sounds like a man waiting to be beaten up by the golf course over the next couple of days. But McDowell insisted: “I’m judging the course off the back of every tee box. I’m hoping that’s not where the USGA are going to put them.

“I’m not the shortest hitter in this field by any stretch of the imagination, I’m probably in the middle of the pack, and I know I’ve got the tools to compete if I can get the ball in play.

“I’m accurate enough with my iron play and my short game and putting will keep me competitive. But if a long hitter gets hot with his driver like Cabrera did at Oakmont, he’s going to be hard to talk to because this is a golf course where length is a big key.

“We’re all hearing horror stories about the rain coming in tonight and I’m off early in the morning off the 10th, and that’s a hard place to start.”