McDowell in world top ten

GRAEME McDOWELL has joined the world’s top ten for the first time in his career after his hard-earned victory in the Andalucia Masters at Valderrama.

He has improved three spots from 13th to 10th, one spot behind fellow Ulsterman Rory McIlroy with Pádraig Harrington next best of the Irish on 19th.

However, the 31 year-old Portrush golfer has even greater things in mind. He arrived in Shanghai last evening after a marathon journey that began by private plane out of Gibraltar on Sunday night followed by a 12-hour flight from Paris to the Chinese capital. He knows he will be a lot more tired than the majority of his rivals, who have been largely inactive over the past few weeks, most especially new world number one Lee Westwood, who plays only his second tournament in three months.