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.

“The Open did come too early for me, no doubt about it,” McDowell said. “I was still on an unbelievable high after Pebble.

“It was very difficult to come down because everybody was reminding me of it.

“The Open was the first time I had seen the Stateside players, and everyone was there, spectators, reminding me of it. It was difficult to come down from that high and I didn’t really want to come down from that high.

“Obviously I wasn’t as focused a golfer as I needed to be for the British Open. I didn’t have that (ability to) dig deep and I putted badly from that six-to-10-foot region that you need to do at St Andrews.

“I wasn’t ready. I was ready physically but I wasn’t ready mentally and you can’t really substitute that ever.”

What has significantly changed things since has been returning to the US following a difficult stretch that took in the Scottish Open, Open Championship and 3 Irish Open in short order.

“These last couple of weeks, I felt more like myself. Last week at Firestone, I think maybe getting out of the British Isles has been a big help because it’s taken the focus off me a bit.

“My schedule probably really couldn’t have been more tough, those three events, the Scottish, British, and Irish, probably three of the toughest events for me anyway in regards to stuff just to handle, media, people, spectators, everything; and you throw the US Open into the mixture, it’s been a busy few weeks.

“I felt like a bit of a weight came off my shoulders a bit last week and felt like I was flying under the radar last week. I played great golf last week and had a good practice session here this week and I’m excited about playing golf again and that’s the key.”

McDowell had been hoping to sit down with Harrington last week in Akron to discuss the burdens of being a major champion, although the Dubliner said the pair never managed more than a brief talk.

“We couldn’t have time to go through what I would advise him,” Harrington said last night.

“There’s a lot in it. But we did have a chat, a little chat on the golf course, where one or two things came up and Graeme pointed out that he was feeling better about things. So we didn’t actually go for dinner.

“It’s not as simple as just sitting down, and there’s not a one-word answer to that question. You only have to look at every guy who has won major championships. There is a large burden on your shoulders after you win one, and players do feel that. It doesn’t get any easier after two or three.”