For GMac, that light at the end of the tunnel is confidence

During the Christmas break of the PGA Tour’s wraparound season, Graeme McDowell toiled for seven hours at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, his home track in Orlando, working on his game. 

When he walked in the house, his wife, Kristin, greeted him and said something very telling: “That brings back memories of how it used to be when I first met you.”

Through hard work and good old-fashioned tenacity, McDowell, 38, is attempting to rejuvenate his career after several middling seasons. For three days at Riviera Country Club, site of last week’s Genesis Open won by Bubba Watson, McDowell played like the golfer who won the 2010 US Open, his crowning achievement, and reached a career-high of No. 6 in the Official World Golf Ranking and not the one who hasn’t won since the 2015 Mayakoba Classic and tumbled to No. 208 in the world as of this week.