G-Mac: I was ‘too ready’ for British Open

GRAEME McDOWELL is looking forward to this week’s Irish Open and hoping it can act as a springboard to a strong second half of what has been a disappointing year.

By his own admission, 2011 has not come close to living up to the dream season he experienced in the previous 12 months. The US Open at Pebble Beach, two more European Tour wins, securing the winning Ryder Cup point for Europe and a play-off defeat of Tiger Woods at the Chevron World Challenge would be difficult to top for any golfer, let alone the gongs and baubles that accompanied them.

Yet this season has seen golf bite back, throwing in four nightmare rounds — at Bay Hill, in The Players Championship, the Wales Open and most recently a second-round 77 which sent him crashing out before the weekend of the British Open two weeks ago — and leaving McDowell scratching his head looking for answers.