Coming home is going to be a right grind for Graeme
Graeme McDowell predicts he’ll have to grind to ensure a fairytale ending to his special homecoming.
And he should have some inside info on The Open track – because his brother Gary is a long-serving greenkeeper at Royal Portrush.
McDowell grew up in Portrush, where dad Kenny introduced him and his two brothers to pitch and putt.
They then joined Rathmore Golf Club, which is next door to the venue that hosts The Open this week for the first time since 1951.
But in terms of enjoying home advantage, it’s a long time since McDowell has played there competitively – in the 2012 Irish Open, when he finished tied 14th.
The 2010 US Open champion finally secured his qualification by sinking a massive final hole putt at the Canadian Open just over a month ago.
He admitted: “It was a massive weight off my shoulders, a massive relief, and it freed me up.
“If I had the shadow of The Open looming over me trying to qualify for that, it would have been difficult.”
Qualifying with a bit to spare allowed him an early look at how the R& A have set up Portrush.
He was intrigued when he played a couple of practice rounds at the course before last week’s Irish Open.
McDowell said: “I feel like I’ve done my prep now. The course is very good. A little less rough than I was expecting, perhaps.
“Obviously year one, I’m sure they’re a little hesitant to set it up ridiculous.
“And with two-and-a-half weeks to go at that stage, they could still do a lot – I’m sure they can get the rough to sprout pretty quickly! But general conditioning was very, very good tee to green. The greens were great.
“I was trying to approach my practice rounds up there without too much complacency.
“I was like, ‘Growing up on the golf course, should I be out here grinding? Yeah, I should be’.
“I don’t remember it very well. Aside from the Irish Open I haven’t played competitively at Portrush in 18 years.
“That’s what I’m trying not to be complacent with my preparation. I did my usual kind of recce.
“Obviously it will be nice to be at home but it’s just about being competitive.
“You can’t be choosy about when you compete, and I’m just trying to compete as much as I can at the minute.
“It’s been a great solid year for me, I’ve achieved a lot of things I wanted to achieve this year, and now I’m looking forward to this.”
McDowell spotted some ‘subtle’ changes that have been made during his recce – new tee boxes, some new bunkering, two new holes and two greens have been reshaped.
The 39-year-old reckons it’s still a very similar test to the one he came to know well before moving on a scholarship to the US, although some of the tee shots are now a lot longer.
McDowell said: “I still believe that it’s an accuracy golf course, tee to green.
“Even with the slight lack of rough, it’s still penal if you miss it in the wrong places off the tee, and it still rewards great accuracy off the tee and really solid iron play.
“So yeah, I was impressed by it all.”