GMac relieved to end frustrating year on top of the world

Graeme McDowell loves nothing better than to close out a long year with a win, and there’s no better place for him to do that than Sherwood Country Club and the World Challenge.

Two years ago, he rallied from four shots behind in the final round and beat Tiger Woods in a playoff.

Staked to a two-shot lead on Sunday, McDowell never let Keegan Bradley catch him, and he protected his lead on the back nine with a pair of superb short-game shots to save par. One of them was a 75-foot lag putt to within tap-in range, critical for someone coming off a three-putt bogey. The other was a delicate chip behind the 17th green that the ball had to land in the rough, and then the fringe, or it would have raced by the cup. It stopped a fraction of an inch away from falling.

The only debate was which win was more meaningful.

“It’s been a frustrating year,” McDowell said. “This really caps off my season.”

Two years ago, the win capped off an amazing year in which McDowell won his first major at the US Open and delivered the winning point for Europe in the Ryder Cup. What made Sunday so special was the fact he hadn’t won anything since that last World Challenge win two years ago.

“It’s been too long. It’s been a hell of a two years since I sat here as a winner,” McDowell said after closing with a 4-under 68 for a three-shot win.

“We all put winning up on a pedestal as the ultimate goal. We like to say that it’s all about the process and going through the motions and trying to get better. But let’s be honest. We all measure ourselves by the win. For two years, I’ve been saying things like ‘processes’ and ‘trying to get better’ and ‘be patient’ and ‘hopefully the wins will come.’ So I’m relieved. I guess I got fed up with telling everyone I’m playing well.”

McDowell was heading home to Portrush yesterday for a few days before taking the rest of his 10-week break in his new house at Lake Nona in Orlando, Florida.

He just finished building the house, which sits across from a lake instead of a golf course — “I get enough views of golf courses,” he said. He just got engaged last month. He is opening a bar outside the gates of his Orlando club called ‘Nona Blue.’ There are a lot of changes in his life, and that’s why it was important for him to get into that old habit of winning.

“I know I’m good enough,” McDowell said. “I think when you know you’re good enough, it gets even more frustrating.”