Graeme McDowell admits that for the first time since joining LIV Golf he feels a sense of purpose in his game and is hugely motivated to qualify for the Open Championship in his hometown of Portrush in July.
McDowell hasn’t played in the Open Championship since it was last staged in Royal Portrush in 2019 but will have chances to qualify for another homecoming starting next week at the International Series Macau where three Claret Jug spots will be on offer to those who are not already exempt.
“Yeah, obviously it’s a great opportunity next week in Macau to have three Open Championship spots. Especially for me with it being Royal Portrush, my hometown, there’s a little bit of extra motivation there,” explained McDowell ahead of LIV Golf Singapore where he arrives after a bright performance in Hong Kong last week.
“Obviously the focus is on this weekend. It’s a very, very important weekend and then we’ll turn our attention to Macau next week, but for me, I feel like I’m starting to feel more comfortable with what I’m trying to do out here. I feel like the first couple of seasons I really didn’t have a purpose. I didn’t really know what my purpose was.”
2025 really feels like the year that LIV Golf became a legitimate golf tour having forged two television deals with Fox and ITV, several other commercial contracts but most crucially, pathways to qualify for the Open Championship and US Open.
The highest-ranked golfer in the top five of this season’s LIV standings at the end of the Dallas event in June who is not otherwise exempt will be invited to compete at Royal Portrush the following month while for the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont on June 12-15, a full exemption will be awarded to the top player who is not otherwise exempt and in the top 3 of the 2025 LIV Golf standings as of May 19, 2025.
McDowell, a 2010 US Open winner, has not played in a major championship since the 2020 US Open, the last major tournament of his ten year exemption for his victory at Pebble Beach.
LIV Golf events still don’t reward players with world ranking points but with the latest exemptions announced this year the 45-year-old can finally see a pathway to the majors for LIV players.
“I’m really starting to kind of see the light again as pathways to these majors start to emerge again. Small, but there is light at the end of the tunnel for sure,” said McDowell.
“To me, I feel like my purpose — the biggest picture, I guess, I feel like the first couple seasons you were so focused every week on just in the now, when I felt like most of my career there was always something else out there that you were working towards, which kind of helped nearly numb the present and get you kind of cranking and pushing forward.
“I love being in a team like this where I feel like there’s a bigger purpose, something bigger to play for, and obviously looking to try and get back into a couple of the majors, which would be amazing.”
Returning to Royal Portrush would mean more than just competing in another major championship for McDowell who recently had a hole named after him at the Open venue as did 2011 Claret Jug winner Darren Clarke.
“Yeah, that was obviously a great honour. There’s 36 holes in Portrush. You have the Dunluce course, which is the championship course, and the Valley Course, which is kind of the course I grew up on. When they redid the Dunluce for the Open Championship in 2019, they took a couple holes off the Valley Course to rebuild two holes, and then the Valley Course has had a complete redo by the R&A. They actually picked one of the holes on the new redo on the Valley Course to name after me. It was obviously a great honour. I figured you had to be dead to do that stuff. But I don’t think I’m dead yet.
“Listen, obviously a huge honour. Very, very proud for me and my family. The Valley Course is kind of where I learned the game, fell in love with the game of golf, and I haven’t been back over there to see the redo yet. Maybe I’ll get a chance the next couple months. But yeah, really cool. Obviously a huge honour.”
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