Colsaerts cashes in as G-Mac ‘rattled by elements’

Graeme McDowell denied he became “rattled by the pressure” in his Volvo World Match Play Championship final defeat by Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts at Finca Cortesin yesterday.

The Portrush native seemed ideally suited to coping with the 50km per hour winds that swept the course but instead the underdog mastered the conditions to claim a one-hole victory and a cheque for €700,000. McDowell had to be content with €360,000

However hard the Irishman tried to put a gloss on the situation and how worthily he battled to bring the match all the way to the final green, McDowell would have known he came up well short in his pursuit of the top prize. On three occasions he had to either take a penalty drop or come out sideways from the positions he found himself in as the direct result of poor ball striking.