TEE TO GREEN:It's been a hectic time for me with Portrush council bestowing a special honour, but I have promised mum and dad to get home soon to sort out the mail

I’VE STARTED to wonder, “what is going to happen next?” Last week, for the most part, it was pretty much a case of recharging the batteries, and the proof that everything was very much in order came on Sunday where I managed to produce my lowest round: a 59! I felt like the Duracell bunny, full of life.

It is one of those magical numbers for any professional and, in my case, the 59 – which included 12 birdies and a bogey, which, would you believe, came on the 130-yard par three third – was finally achieved on the Valley course at Royal Portrush in a round with my dad, Kenny, my uncle Uel, who was my coach growing up, and my friend Kevin Vance, who was over visiting from America.

I’ve always dreamed of breaking 60 and, even though it wasn’t in a tournament, it gave me tremendous satisfaction. The little celebratory pint in the clubhouse afterwards tasted very nice indeed, and, of course, we – me and the dad – took the couple of quid in our match. The round confirmed to me that things are going really well heading into a big three weeks of the season, starting with this week’s Irish Open in Killarney which leads on to next week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and then the US PGA.

There was just a touch of mental fatigue that set in at the British Open at St Andrews, although a tied-23rd finish wasn’t too disappointing. I actually felt ready to go for the week, but my pace putting let me down, and I looked forward to switching off when I got home to Portrush. As ever, though, there were things to do and I must say I had a very interesting day last Friday.

Things started out with an unusual but special honour where the borough council introduced new road signs into the town which now include the words, “Home of US Open champion Graeme McDowell”. It’s pretty cool to be honoured in such a way because, let’s be honest, this is something that’s usually done when you’re dead and gone. Hopefully, I’ve a lot more years and a lot more life left in me, but I’m honoured that the council did all this so quickly, and if it helps to bring some more golfing tourists to Portrush, then all the better. Golf tourism is very important to the area and I would like to do as much as I can to help promote the great courses we have there.

The other thing that happened on Friday is I handed over the US Open trophy to my club – Rathmore Golf Club – for safe-keeping. The club was keen to do something the week after the US Open win in Pebble Beach, but I felt there was too much going on and that I wouldn’t have been able to do it justice at the time.

The handing over of the trophy for safe-keeping was a nice thing for everyone involved in the club. There were about 150 members and close friends there and we enjoyed some food and drink and they played a DVD which the BBC did in the club at the time I was playing the final round in Pebble Beach. There were a few teary-eyed moments and I still get a real kick from watching footage.

I still haven’t gotten around to reading all the letters and cards that were sent to me in Portrush. I’m saving that for a quiet moment, but I do know that I need to take some proper time out after the PGA Championship in Whistling Straits, if only to help clean up my parents’ house which is like a storage dump. It’s like a bomb has hit it, full of newspaper cuttings and piles of letters. The postman, who is a member in Rathmore, has been beating a steady path to the door in the past few weeks and everything has found its way to the house. My mum is just grinning and bearing it at the moment, but I’ll sort things out when I get back from the PGA.

This week in Killarney promises to be a great Irish Open. The sponsors have really pumped a bit of life back into the tournament and the course has been set up for scoring, so here’s fingers crossed we get a week of good weather and that the crowds will enjoy the festival atmosphere.

Finally, I would like to congratulate Louis Oosthuizen on his British Open win and, also, to congratulate Pete Cowen – my coach and Louis’s coach – on leading home a second successive Major champion. It was a surprise when I heard I was Pete’s first Major champion, but he is really a top, top coach and I guess the floodgates have now opened for him. He deserves it every bit as much as the players.

For more information on Graeme McDowell, visit www.graememcdowell.com