G-Mac looks to relax as Dubai dreams fading

GRAEME McDOWELL planned to give it “a right old rattle” before conceding the Race to Dubai title to German ace Martin Kaymer.

But the Portrush man was talking about heading out on the town in Dubai last night to have a few beers and reflect on a dream year rather than his disappointing second round 73, which left him eight shots adrift of the German at the halfway stage of the Dubai World Championship and 10 behind leaders Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter.

“I’m standing here very disappointed because I got so frustrated,” McDowell, who was undone by four bogeys in a seven-hole stretch, admitted. “I was not that far out of contention, I really should have stayed a little bit more patient than I did, but I let the head come spinning off out there. It’s not like me really.”

While his never-say-die spirit saw him defiantly insist that he planned to “pour every last ounce of energy” into the last two rounds, the US Open champion knows that the greatest season of his life is at an end.

He needs at least a top-three finish to overhaul Kaymer and become European No 1, but that looks unlikely after Kaymer hit a second round 70 to lie joint fourth and two shots behind pacesetters Poulter (66) and Fisher (64) on seven-under par, with McDowell down in 42nd place on one over.

Having zoomed all the way up to sixth with three birdies in his first seven holes, his “head came off” when he bogeyed the eighth and ninth from the middle of the fairway, and dropped further shots at the 12th and 14th to slither out of contention.

Watching playing partner Alvaro Quiros play that stretch in four under en route to a 67 didn’t help either and McDowell confessed that he simply lost his patience.

“Right about the time my head was rolling down the ninth fairway, Alvaro strung about three birdies in the space of four holes,” he said. “It’s a funny game. I’m just very impatient with myself.”

McDowell needed an adrenaline rush this week to keep “the Race” going but after falling five shots behind Kaymer on Thursday in what is his fifth event on the trot, it was no surprise yesterday’s bogey run sapped every ounce of energy from his body.

“I don’t have the energy to be patient with myself,” he said. “I don’t have the energy to be digging deep. It’s okay when things are on a string but when you’ve got to grind, it’s just not in there.”

Kaymer is targeting a win that could see him top the world rankings as well as the Race to Dubai, but he needs current world No 1 Lee Westwood to finish outside the top two and the Englishman is just a shot behind Fisher and Poulter in solo third after a 67.

McDowell knows he has nothing to lose now and planned to go easy on himself last night after a dream season that brought him a major victory at the US Open, wins in Wales and Spain as well as Ryder Cup hero status.

“I’ve got to somehow go out and relax and have a good time this weekend,” McDowell went on. “I’ll have a few beers tonight. I nearly have to try and switch it off a little bit because I’m so switched on and I’m trying so desperately hard, I can’t seem to do it.

“I’m not writing myself off, but I’ve got to shoot two 65s this weekend and if it doesn’t happen, big deal, it’s been a great year. I wanted to play well, but you know, the golf course perhaps doesn’t setup that well for me and like I say, I’m a mentally tired man.”