McDowell back on the level

GRAEME McDOWELL is finally getting his feet back on the ground seven weeks after his US Open heroics and right on schedule for a proper assault on a second major title at this week’s USPGA Championship.

The Portrush golfer, who held off all-comers at Pebble Beach Golf Links in June to win his first major, admitted last night that the Open Championship at St Andrews in mid-July had come just a little too soon after his Californian success to make a serious bid for back-to-back glory.

The partying stopped last week in Akron, Ohio, when McDowell began to get back in the groove with a tie for 22nd finish at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the 31-year-old feels he is now at Whistling Straits on the shores of Lake Michigan in a much more focused position to vie for a title won in 2008 by Pádraig Harrington and being defended by YE Yang.