US Open Championship: Some players look like they belong in the big time. Graeme McDowell didn't win the US Open at Oakmont; and, in the end, didn't even come close.
But he was there, and he looked as if he belonged. From the sun-bleached hair sticking out from the back of his baseball cap, to the exclusive Q'aja designer clothes, down to the Dragon headcovers, he was definitely not out of place.
At one point early in yesterday's final round, McDowell was walking across the monstrosity of a bridge that splits this course in half, a 60-yards long mass of concrete and steel that stretches from one side of the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the other, when the player coming in the opposite direction gave him a nod of acknowledgement. The man offering the quiet greeting was Australian Geoff Ogilvy, whose reign as US Open champion had about two hours left to run.
While McDowell had only taken stuttering early steps in his final round, a first hole bogey that was to be followed by a glut of them from the third hole that put an end to any notion of mounting a final round charge, the bigger picture for the 26-year-old from Portrush was that he chased the dream and that it only reaffirmed his conviction to work even harder on his game, particularly the short game which is such a part and parcel of any ambitions to win a major.
When McDowell made his one-and-only appearance in the US Masters at Augusta National, he was paired for the first two rounds with Ben Crenshaw. Rather than be intimidated, McDowell made a point of looking to the short game maestro from advice. It was the same at Oakmont, where McDowell could be seen, late into the evenings, around the short game area, not only working on his game but picking the brain of Thomas Bjorn. Ask the questions, absorb the answers, and you will learn.
Too often, McDowell has suffered meltdown in the majors. In last year's British Open at Hoylake, he shot into the first round lead, endured a restless night sleeping on the prospect of finishing off the job, and eventually slid down to finish in tied-61st position on the Sunday evening when Tiger Woods was presented with the claret jug.
But McDowell learnt from the experience, and stored the lessons. Indeed, although still relatively new to competing in the majors, the omens for McDowell are good. Despite missing the cut in his first three majors - a sequence that extended from the 2004 British Open to the 2005 US Masters - McDowell has now survived the cut in his last four major appearances, stretching back to last year's Open at Hoylake. He believes he belongs; and that he is still learning.
He has come a long, long way since his woes of the 2006 season when he set out with ambitions to make the European Ryder Cup team and instead finished up losing his tour card on the US Tour and falling to 58th on the European Tour Order of Merit, his lowest position in four years. Now, though, since teaming-up with coach Clive Tucker - who also works with David Howell - and employing Bjorn's old caddie, Ken Comboy, on his bag, McDowell has started to move in the right direction again.
For the first three rounds at Oakmont, only one player hit more greens in regulation than McDowell. That player was Tiger Woods. So, McDowell is doing more right than wrong these days, although he remains self-critical, something he believes is a trait of any professional golfer worth his salt.
"You know, I'm still disappointed with my general execution. I'm missing fairways, just barely, and you can't play Oakmont from the rough, particularly when you don't feel you can scramble," he said, adding: "When that happens, all of a sudden there is a lot of pressure being put onto your long game. To be honest, I don't think my short game is good enough yet to compete at this level in this type of set-up. I need to get back to the drawing board and learn how to get it up and down from these types of lies on these types of greens."
Among the things that McDowell learnt from his experiences at Oakmont is that you've got to adapt your equipment to suit the test. The most lofted wedge he had in his bag was 58 degrees, while many other players had inserted a 64-degree wedge into their bags to contend with the thick rough around the greens.
He'll know better next time.
"I've got to understand and learn how to get the ball up and down on a US Open golf course and I don't think I've got my head around it this week. I can't put my short game under any sort of pressure. I don't feel I've got the shots to compete when I do that. I'm being a little bit over critical. I'm a golfer after all, and we can be critical of ourselves.
"My long game is good, I can't complain at all, and I've hit some fantastic iron shots this week. But this is a stern test around the greens. I really fell like I'm putting fantastically well. I just need to get a bit of confidence and know how the ball will react.
You know, there's nothing major to be done. It doesn't involve a complete rethink. What Oakmont has shows me is that, to win a major, I've got to improve my short game." At least he's trying. While other European tour players, among them Bradley Dredge, decided not to even compete in the qualifying for Oakmont, McDowell successfully put his way through the torture chamber. And, once at Oakmont, he survived the cut. Little steps, but all geared towards one big leap. Some day, maybe?
