Graeme McDowell

McDowell ended a 40-year wait for a European winner at the U.S. Open when he claimed his first major title in 2010 at Pebble Beach. He joined Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tom Kite, and Tiger Woods as winners of U.S. Opens played at the famous oceanside course. His victory was only the second major triumph at the time by a player from Northern Ireland, following Fred Daly (1947 British Open winner), who also came from Portrush. It was the first U.S. Open victory by a European since Tony Jacklin in 1970. McDowell joined the elite company of UK golfers to have won the U.S. Open, alongside Harry Vardon (1900), Ted Ray (1920), Jim Barnes (1921), Tommy Armour (1927) and Jacklin (1970). His one-two finish with Frenchman Gregory Havret was the first by two Europeans since 1927 when Tommy Armour of Scotland finished 1st and England's Harry Cooper was runner-up.
The U.S. Open victory was McDowell's second win in a row. Two weeks earlier, he captured the Celtic Manor Wales Open with rounds of 64-63 over the weekend on The Twenty Ten Course, where three months later, he held his nerve against Hunter Mahan to seal the victory for Europe at the Ryder Cup. Added a victory at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters, but ultimately finished 2nd to Martin Kaymer in a battle for the European Order of Merit title.
McDowell was born in Portrush, Northern Ireland, the middle child of three brothers. He picked up a golf club for the first time at age 7, when his dad, Kenny, would take him and younger brother Gary to the local pitch-and-putt course. At age 10, the boys were allowed to join Rathmore, the golf club that shares the world-famous links of Royal Portrush.
In a stellar amateur career, McDowell played a prominent role in Great Britain and Ireland's retention of the Walker Cup in 2001. He studied engineering at Queens University in Belfast, then transferred to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he played college golf through the spring of 2002. As a senior with the Blazers in 2002, McDowell won six of 12 college events, as well as the Haskins Award, given to the outstanding collegiate golfer in the United States.
Won his first European Tour title in only his fourth start at the 2002 Scandinavian Masters and finished 6th on the Order of Merit in 2004 after winning the Telecom Italia Open.
Won the inaugural Ballantine's Championship in March 2008, sparking a terrific season that included a second victory at the Barclays Scottish Open and a Ryder Cup debut at Valhalla Golf Club.
Member of the 2001 Walker Cup Team. Member 2008, '10, '12 and '14 European Ryder Cup Teams.
Awarded an MBE in the 2011 New Years' honors list.
2010 Notes: Won the U.S. Open and twice in Europe. Ended his year with a win at the unofficial Chevron World Challenge over Tiger Woods. Was also the hero of the Ryder Cup, helping the European Team win the clinching point.
2011 Notes: Made a career-high 16 starts on the PGA Tour. His 10 made cuts and three top-10s included a 3rd-place finish at the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Decided not to defend his Chevron World Challenge title and instead played the Nedbank Golf Challenge on the Sunshine Tour, where he shot two 70s on the weekend to T-3rd at Gary Player C.C.
2012 Notes: Finished 2nd at the Arnold Palmer Invitational behind Tiger Woods. Also had a top-10 at the Honda Classic and finished 12th at the Masters. On the European Tour, finished 3rd at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and runner-up to Nicolas Colsaerts at the Volvo World Match Play Championship. Played in the final group at both the U.S. Open and the British Open, where he finished T-2nd and T-5th, respectively. As a member of the European Ryder Cup team, had a 1-3-0 record.
2013 Notes: Broke his two-and-a-half-year victory drought with a win at the RBC Heritage, beginning a streak in which he also won at the Volvo World Match Play and French Open over seven starts. But in the other four starts, he missed the cut at the Players Championship, BMW PGA Championship, U.S. Open and the Irish Open. For the year, was 55th in the FedExCup race and 28th on the money list. Won twice on the European Tour and finished 4th in the Race to Dubai.
2014 Notes: Finished T-6th at the Irish Open and defended his title at the Alstom Open de France. On the PGA Tour, had eight top-10s, at the WGC-HSBC Champions (T-3rd), AT&T Pebble Beach (T-7th), WGC-Accenture Match Play (T-5th), WGC-Cadillac (T-9th), Arnold Palmer Invitational (T-10th), British Open (T-9th), RBC Canadian (T-9th) and WGC-Bridgestone (T-8th). Finished the PGA Tour year ranked 56th in the FedExCup standings and 41st on the money list. In 13 starts on the European Tour, he finished 14th in the Race to Dubai.
2015 Notes: Started the year with a T-3rd at the WGC-HSBC Champions. While practicing at the Valero Texas Open, though, he strained his left leg. Played the pro-am and first-round with heavy strapping around it, but the pain was too much, and he withdrew midway through the round. Doctors said he had a tendon strain, which affected his lower leg and ankle area. Because of the injury, he elected not to play at the Shell Houston Open and underwent treatments in Orlando. The leg was fine at the Masters and has not bothered him since. Ended his year 160th in the FedExCup rankings and 134th on the money list. On the European Tour, finished 68th in the Race to Dubai.
2016 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour events, making 11 cuts and finishing in the top-10 five times. In his first start of the season, McDowell tied the tournament-low 36 holes at OHL Classic at Mayakoba at 12-under-par 130. Parlayed his 36-hole lead into his third career PGA Tour victory via sudden death in a Monday finish, defeating Jason Bohn and Russell Knox with a birdie on the first extra hole. Claimed the victory in Mexico was incredibly significant as it came at a time when he was struggling with his game. Came back the following week and contended at The RSM Classic, where he shot rounds of 67-68-65-67, leading to a 15-under 267 total and 3rd-place finish (seven strokes behind runaway winner Kevin Kisner). Capped an opening two-week stretch where he played his eight rounds at 33 under par. Following a 1-over 71 in the first round of The Honda Classic, posted three rounds in the 60s at PGA National to finish alone in 5th. Had a T-9th at the Players Championship and a T-5th at the Wyndham Championship. Was 48th in the FedExCup rankings and 33rd on the money list. His earnings of $2,596,170 represented his best financial season on the PGA Tour. On the European Tour, he played in 13 events, making 11 cuts. Was in the top-10 twice: T-4th at the British Masters and T-10th at the Scottish Open. Was 62nd in the Race to Dubai with euros571,617 in earnings.
2017 Notes: On the PGA Tour, had four top-25 finishes in 17 starts, highlighted by a pair of T-14th finishes at the Honda Classic and Valspar Championship. Unable to advance to the FedExCup playoffs, ending his season after the Wyndham Championship at 136th in the FedExCup standings. On the European Tour, he played in 10 events, making eight cuts. His best finish was T-13th at the Dubai Desert Classic. Finished 137th in the Race to Dubai.
2018 Notes: Played in 20 PGA Tour events, making 13 cuts with one top-10 finish and four top-25 finishes. Best finish of the year was T-10th in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He finished 144th in the final FedExCup point race. Played in nine European Tour events, making six cuts with one top-10, a T-5th at the Italian Open. Was 91st in the Race to Dubai.
2019 Notes: Played in 20 PGA Tour events, making 18 cuts with three top-10 finishes. He was 68th in the FedExCup standings. Played in seve European Tour events, making four cuts. At the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, won for the fourth time in his 215th start at the age of 39 years, 8 months and a day. He won by one stroke over Chris Stroud and MacKenzie Hughes. Shot a final-round 66 to finish T-7th at the Valero Texas Open. It marked his first back-to-back top-10s on the PGA Tour since winning the 2015 Mayakoba Golf Classic and finishing 3rd at The RSM Classic. With a 29-foot putt for par on the 72nd hole, McDowell finished T-8th at the RBC Canadian Open and he earned a spot to play in the British Open being held in his home country of Northern Ireland, where he finished T-57th. In the FedExCup playoffs, missed the cut at the Northern Trust and T-57th at the BMW Championship. Finished T-15th at the Italian Open.
2020 Notes: Played in 16 PGA Tour events, making nine cuts with one top-10 finish. Was 117th in the FedExCup standings. Was T-4th at the Sony Open in Hawaii, two strokes out of the Cameron Smith/Brendan Steele playoff. Won for the 11th time on the European Tour at the Saudi International, where he defeated defending champion Dustin Johnson by two strokes. It was his first European victory since the 2014 French Open, and with the victory, he jumped to 47th in the Official World Golf Ranking, the first time he was back in the top-50 since 2015. In the FedExCup playoffs, missed the cut at the Northern Trust. After the break from COVID-19, he struggled, missing eight of 10 cuts. Best finishes were T-35th at the Wokday Charity Open and WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.