Graeme McDowell (born 30 July 1979) is a
professional
golfer from Northern Ireland who
plays on the
European Tour.
McDowell
was born in Portrush
, Northern
Ireland
. Like an increasing number of promising
junior Irish and UK golfers McDowell took a golf scholarship at an
American university. He attended the
University of Alabama at
Birmingham from 1998 to 2002. In 2002, he won the
Haskins Award for most outstanding collegiate
golfer in the United States.
In 2001 he was a member of the Great Britain
and Ireland team which retained the Walker
Cup at Sea Island in Georgia
.
McDowell turned professional in 2002 and won that season's
Volvo Scandinavian Masters, which
was only his fourth start on the European Tour. He didn't win in
his second season, but in 2004 he claimed the
Telecom Italia Open and finished sixth
on the European Tour Order of Merit. In 2005 he divided his time
between the European and PGA Tours. He was not yet a full member of
the
PGA Tour but his top 50 placing in the
Official World Golf
Rankings ensured he received invitations to play in many events
in the U.S. and McDowell managed two top ten finishes on the PGA
Tour including tied second place at the
Bay Hill Invitational which earned him
enough money to become fully exempt on the PGA Tour in 2006.
However he failed to finish in the top 150 in the 2006 PGA Tour
money list and decided to return to the European Tour in
2007.
In 2008 he returned to the winners enclosure by winning first the
Ballantine's Championship
in Korea and then the
Barclays
Scottish Open. He played in the
2008
Ryder Cup, earning 2.5 points for the European team and
finished the season ranked fifth on the Order of Merit.
Amateur wins (6)
- 1996 Ulster Boys Championship
- 1999 Irish Youths Championship
- 2000 Irish Amateur Close Championship, Irish Youths
Championship, World Universities Championship, South of Ireland
Championship
Professional wins (4)
European Tour wins (4)
| No. |
Date |
Tournament |
Winning Score |
Margin of
Victory
|
Runner(s)-up |
| 1 |
4 Aug 2002 |
Volvo Scandinavian
Masters |
-14 (64-73-66-67=270) |1 stroke |{{flagicon|ZAF}} [[Trevor
Immelman]] |- |2 |2 May 2004 |[[Telecom Italia Open]] |-19
(67-65-65=197) |Playoff |{{flagicon|FRA}}[[Thomas Levet]] |- |3 |16
Mar [[2008 European Tour|2008]] |[[Ballantine's Championship]] |-24
(68-64-66-66=264) |Playoff |{{flagicon|IND}} [[Jeev Milkha Singh]]
|- |4 |13 Jul [[2008 European Tour|2008]] |[[Barclays Scottish
Open]] |-13 (67-70-66-68=271) |
2 strokes |
James Kingston |
Results in major championships
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
Team appearances
Amateur
- Walker Cup (representing Great
Britain & Ireland): 2001 (winners)
- Palmer Cup: (representing Great
Britain & Ireland): 2000 (winners), 2001
Professional
- Ryder Cup (representing Europe):
2008
- Record: 4 matches, 2.5 points (62.50% Point Percentage)
- All Formats(W-L-H): 2-1-1 = 2.5pts
- Singles: 1-0-0 = 1pt
- Foursomes: 0-0-1 = 0.5pt
- Fourballs: 1-1-0 = 1pt
- Seve Trophy: (representing Great
Britain & Ireland): 2005
(winners), 2009
(winners)
- Royal Trophy (representing Europe):
2006 (winners)
- World Cup (representing
Ireland): 2008,
2009
External links