GOLF DUBAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:WHO WILL hear the call loudest? Destiny has taken a liking to Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer this season, be it in Pebble Beach or Whistling Straits. Here, in the desert, as the PGA European Tour's season reaches a climax on a layout fittingly known as The Earth, the final accolade of being crowned Europe's number one will happen for only one of them come sundown on Sunday.
For whoever the chosen one is, the award will cap a remarkable year’s work.
And, on the eve of the championship, Rory McIlroy – a year on from his close call here when he was overtaken on the last lap by Lee Westwood – put his faith in his fellow-Ulsterman.
“If you looked at both of them just on their game as (regards) ball-striking and everything, you would say it suits Kaymer more . . . . but Graeme is on such a roll, I don’t think it matters what golf course he plays. He’s going to put his name in the frame to try and win it.”
McIlroy has designs on winning this season-ending tournament himself, but he nevertheless took in the bigger picture of the duel between McDowell and Kaymer in remarking: “I’ve spent a lot of time with G-Mac over the past few years and he’s very dedicated to his game, works very hard. He’s just a good pro, does all the right things. If there’s anyone that deserves it this year, it’s probably him because of how hard he’s worked.”
And, on Kaymer, McIlroy offered: “Martin just gets on with his business. He’s a very, very strong game. He’s got a powerful swing, does everything well, is great under pressure and putts well. I think it’s just that German thing about him, he’s just very efficient.”
Then, responding to a query as to whether McDowell had the length required to conquer the 7,675-yards course, McIlroy added: “Graeme’s definitely a better player now that he was last year. I think he has more shots. There’s a lot of second shots on this golf course that are uphill and you need to flight it high, but I think he’s now got that shot . . . he’s a top-10 player in the world. He can play any golf course. If he’s on this week, he’ll have a great chance. He’s on a roll, he’s got momentum. You know, if he’s confident and he believes in himself, all he needs to do is hit it on the fairway, hit it on the green and hole the putt. Simple.”
Ah, if life were only so simple. In actual fact, McDowell has come into the season’s final tournament trailing Kaymer by €290,910 and, as such, is cast in the role of pursuer. Yesterday, nursing a head cold which he insisted wouldn’t affect his quest, McDowell was determined, as he put it, to keep an “open mind” on his attempt to conquer the course.
Last year, on the Sunday evening, McDowell admitted to feeling “disconsolate” after labouring on the Greg Norman-design. On that occasion, McDowell ended up in tied-30th position but much has changed in the year since as he evolved into a major champion (winning the US Open at Pebble Beach in June) and has become a serial winner on tour.
“If you had shown me the script in January for this year, I wouldn’t have believed it. It’s certainly beyond my wildest expectations this year, for sure. But it’s felt right. I’ve been quietly going about my business the last five or six years, gaining some great experience round the world and putting my game to the test and learning from mistakes that I’ve made . . . I certainly wouldn’t have expected this season to go the way it has, it’s been amazing,” said McDowell.
Of course, this is more than a duel between two players. The G-Mac versus Kaymer match-up takes in the bigger picture of the right to be crowned Europe’s money winner but this tournament itself holds prestige and, reflecting the rude health of Irish players on tour, there are no fewer than seven of them in the elite 60-player field: McDowell, McIlroy, Pádraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Damien McGrane, Gareth Maybin and Peter Lawrie.
For McIlroy, incidentally, the lure of the USA has faded – for now, at least.
In a further rebuke to the US Tour, on the back of not taking up his tour card there for 2011, McIlroy revealed yesterday he was most unlikely to play in the Players championship next year – golf’s supposed “fifth” major – because of a dislike of the Pete Dye-designed Sawgrass course.
“I find it very awkward off the tee,” remarked McIlroy matter-of-factly.
Head-to-Head
Graeme McDowell
Race to Dubai:2nd (€2,993,019)
World Ranking:9
Major titles:One. Captured the US Open at Pebble Beach in June, finishing a stroke clear of France's Gregory Havret.
If he weren't a golfer:An engineer – was top of his class in Queen's University, Belfast, and at the University of Alabama. Is building a house in Orlando where he has taken a hands-on approach to its design and construction.
Shares a birthday with:Tennis player Martina Hingis.
Sound bite:"He's had a 25-length lead and I'm coming fast up the inside rail now and we've got one fence left and I feel like I'm coming strong."
Martin Kaymerv
Race to Dubai:1st (€3,283,929)
World Ranking:3
Major titles:One. Claimed the US PGA at Whistling Straits in August, defeating American Bubba Watson in a play-off.
If he weren't a golfer:A racing driver – Kaymer was a member of go-kart club as a teenager. Last year, the German broke several toes in a karting accident that necessitated pins and plates to be inserted in his foot.
Shares a birthday with:Actor Denzel Washington.
Sound bite:"I can just take care of my own game . . . . the only thing you can do is to play good golf; and if it happens, it happens."
