Graeme McDowell: It’s absolutely still winnable

Graeme McDowell will tee up for his third round at Royal County Down this morning eight shots behind the leaders but convinced the Irish Open title is within his grasp.

McDowell shot a second-round, four-over-par 75 yesterday to just make the halfway cut on five over par after 36 holes alongside fellow major winner and Tyrone’s Darren Clarke, who carded a 72. Yet the 2010 US Open champion, who gets under way in the third group of the day at 8:15am, insisted: “It’s absolutely still winnable.

“I’ll need a bit of fortune with the weather, and I’ll need conditions in the morning to go out and go low and for the wind to get up for the leaders in the afternoon. but anything is possible from here.”