GOLF/INTERVIEW GRAEME McDOWELL:Two years ago his performance at Valhalla took people by surprise but this time Graeme McDowell expects to play a major part, he tells PHILIP REID

FOR THE past few days, Graeme McDowell has been in “boot camp,” to use his own words, even if the scrumptious environs and facilities at Killeen Castle are a million miles from the hard labour images you associate with such a military expression.

The enforcers of the rigorous regime of chipping, putting and hitting shot after shot on the range – designed to have the man known as G-Mac in tip-top shape for next week’s Ryder Cup – are equally driven, his caddie Ken Comboy and his coach Pete Cowen.

Come Monday, the Portrush man will meet up with the other 11 players on Colin Montgomerie’s team; but, unlike his debut appearance in this white-knuckle ride of team golf two years ago, McDowell, a Major champion, won’t be the quiet kid in the corner of the team room. This time, he can speak with the voice of experience.

“I’ll feel like I’m one of the more integral parts of the team. I’m going there with my game in shape, and expecting to get three or four games – if not five,” said McDowell, who was elevated to new heights in June when capturing the US Open at Pebble Beach in a performance of style and substance. As a result he has risen to number 13 in the world.

How his life has changed in those two years since Valhalla, when he entered the Ryder Cup fray riding shotgun for Pádraig Harrington. Then, ranked 32nd in the world, McDowell started out as a peripheral player in Nick Faldo’s team but in partnering Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Ian Poulter and, of course in his own singles, he played with such authority he left with two and a half points from a possible four and the consensus among all who watched him was he was a player bred for such pressure cauldrons.

“I’ve always enjoyed team golf, right up from the Walker Cup and in my college days (at the University of Alabama). Everything about being involved in team golf has always appealed to me. Week to week, we play so much individual golf and it is such an individual game, right down to everything you do. It is just you out there. But the Ryder Cup gives you that opportunity to share it with 11 other guys. With caddies. Wives. Girlfriends. The back room staff, and everyone involved. It’s just such a completely different experience.”

What is it about the Ryder Cup that sends shivers down a player’s back, puts butterflies in the stomach and causes sweaty palms? Why is it that players like Tiger Woods can duck-hook a ball into the water off the first? And why do players freeze over two-foot putts?

“The big thing about the Ryder Cup,” observed McDowell, “is it’s Sunday afternoon pressure at a Major right from the gun on Friday morning. Generally, if you’re in contention on Sunday at a Major, you’re there because you’re playing well.

“I guess the thing with the Ryder Cup is that on Friday morning you’ve nothing to base that one on, you’re putting your tee in the ground for the first time that week and it’s Sunday afternoon at a Major pressure right away.”

As a teenager growing up on the Causeway Coast, McDowell had many dreams. One was winning Majors, the other was playing in the Ryder Cup. Now, here he is, having turned 31 years of age back in July, and he has ticked those boxes.

“The Ryder Cup? I obviously grew up sitting down in the golf club (in Rathmore) with it on there. I never missed a shot. I grew up with the Ryder Cup and have just loved every second of it. Obviously, the Irish affinity with the Ryder Cup is a big part of why it’s quite close to my heart, with Christy (O’Connor Jnr) and (Eamonn) Darcy and (Paul) McGinley and Clarkey at The K Club.

“I mean, it’s something about Irish players and how much passion they have. They just seem to embrace the team environment and always have. I think I’m no different when it comes to that, and I think that’s why I hold it in such esteem . . . . of course, the Major championships are what really define a player when their career is all said and done. But, to me, it’s about the Ryder Cup as well and the teams you’ve played on and winning for your country or your continent.”

McDowell, in fact, has excelled in team events – as an amateur, in the Walker Cup (2001 winners) and Palmer Cup (2000 winners), and, as a professional, in the Royal Trophy (2006 winners) and Seve Trophy (2005, 2009 winners).

In the World Cup (with Rory McIlroy in China last year), he came up just short, finishing runner-up to the Molinari brothers. And, of course, in the Ryder Cup at Valhalla he left with great personal satisfaction but also as part of a losing team. Celtic Manor – where he won the Wales Open in June, just before his Major breakthrough at Pebble Beach – provides him with the chance to tick another box.

Certainly, McDowell – who took a four-week break after the US PGA in Whistling Straits to spend some time on the beach in the Caribbean and to oversee the laying of the foundations on his new home in Orlando – showed sharpness on his return to competition in Austria last week, where he finished third, and has continued his preparations under the watchful eye of his coach, Cowen, these past couple of days. He is, as the Americans might say, good to go.

“When I think about my schedule after the US Open, I was pretty busy. The two weeks after Pebble Beach, trying to deal with everything, the celebrations and all that stuff, and then to play five of the next six weeks, it’s no wonder I turned up at the US PGA feeling a shadow of myself. Physically, I felt okay. But mentally I didn’t have it . . . .

“The four weeks off have been hugely important to me, just to try and rest up a little, reflect on what I’ve accomplished and to start looking forward again, to the Ryder Cup for one and, obviously, the Race to Dubai . . . . just everything that lies in front of me, rather than just keep looking back at the US Open.”

McDowell – who played in a Seve Trophy under Montgomerie and featured on last year’s Vivendi Trophy under Paul McGinley, a vice-captain to Monty on this occasion – believes there was something missing from the team in Valhalla.

“I don’t know, we just didn’t have the X-factor, someone to stand up and rally the troops,” he reflected, adding: “Jose Maria (Olazabal) got up on the Saturday night and made a great speech when the singles line-ups came out. That was probably the first real emotional speech we had the whole week. (This time) I think having that extra dynamic in the team room, which we’ll certainly have with our backroom staff, really just to have that passion and get guys up for it from the word go . . . .

“I’m really excited to have another go next week. I enjoyed it so much last time, it was an amazing experience for me, and the only thing missing for me was that gold cup on the flight home.”

Ryder cup week it's not all about the golf

MONDAY

The European team is due in Celtic Manor at lunchtime on Monday, by which stage the US team – travelling on a specially chartered flight from Atlanta where nine of the team are in action in the Tour Championship – will have already landed at Cardiff Airport. The flight is due in at 11am, with the captains, Corey Pavin and Colin Montgomerie, scheduled to give their first media conference there at 11.45am. Both teams will have access to special team rooms, where they will be able to use up their free time by playing, among other things, table tennis and pool.

TUESDAY

The first official practice rounds on the Twenty Ten Course, with the course open to Team USA and Team Europe from 8am until 7pm. The US team will have their official team photograph taken at 8am before starting their practice off the first tee. The Europeans will start practice rounds off the 11th.

WEDNESDAY

The official European team photograph will be taken at 8am, after which the players will begin practice off the first tee. The US Team will start their practice off the 11th. The "Welcome to Wales" concert – the final public duty of the players prior to the match – will be held that evening at the Millennium Stadium and will feature performances from Shirley Bassey, Katherine Jenkins, Lostprophets, Only Men Aloud and Shaheen Jafargholi and will be presented by actress Catherine Zeta Jones.

THURSDAY

The final practice day will see the course open for play at 8am and closed at 3pm, half an hour before the official opening ceremony takes place where Montgomerie and Pavin will personally introduce their players.

FRIDAY

The Ryder Cup starts at 7.45am with the first of four fourball (betterball) matches. The opening series of foursomes (alternate shot) matches gets under way at 1.15pm.

SATURDAY

The second series of fourball matches will start at 7.45am, followed by the final round of foursomes at 1.15pm.

SUNDAY

The first of the 12 singles matches will tee off at 11.35am, with the last singles going off the first tee at 1.47pm. The closing ceremony takes place at 5.30pm.