Graeme McDowell feels he has momentum to fuel his Open Championship bid after he secured his first podium finish since joining LIV Golf with a runner-up spot behind Joaquin Niemann in Virginia.
McDowell’s next outing will be in Dallas at the end of the month before flying back to the UK for a quick turnaround at Open Championship Final Qualifying as he bids to earn a spot in the field in his home club of Royal Portrush alongside Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Pádraig Harrington and Tom McKibbin next month.
McDowell looks to have turned his form around, following a good run at US Open qualifying last week and a final round of 66 (-5) on Sunday at LIV Virginia as he came up one shot shy of Niemann on a dramatic final day.
“I’m happy with the fight. It was tough to keep the momentum going with the breaks. I just asked Joaco’s caddie what they did in the second break because whatever they did was good,” said McDowell who was hunting his first victory since the 2020 Saudi International which lifted him back into the world’s top-50 at the time.
“Listen, it’s hard to play loose when you need it, when you kind of haven’t been there for a while. But I was really happy the way I composed myself generally today. Drove the ball great. I felt pretty comfortable out there.
“Hopefully a big summer ahead, and like I said in the presser, been so disappointed with my general performance on LIV this to point, this is what I expect of myself still. Really nice to get the juices flowing a little bit. I’m super excited about the week.”
The world number 1454 had to overcome two weather delays for a deluge of rain but did return to the course after the first delay to birdie the 12th and keep the momentum he had built up after rolling in birdies on the 7th, 8th and 10th to edge himself in front.
Another delay came and he couldn’t find the birdies he needed to keep pace with a resurgent Niemann although he did birdie 17 to get within one going down the last.
“I think when the putt rolled in on 12 after the first restart, I was like, here we go. Because I felt like getting through 12 was big because that was like the last real dangerous hole.
“But the second stop, I could have done without it. Like I said, Niemann, I don’t know what he did. I was happy with my prep, but listen, just so happy to be in the mix. It’s so hard to win. I knew in my heart that the last three or four holes were going to be pivotal because the greens were so soft and so birdieable.
“But I knew that I needed two of the last four. That was the goal. Obviously we only made one and we came up one short. So we knew what we had to do. Just didn’t quite hit it tight enough coming in. I kind of had a few little weird numbers, tweener numbers. I had a tweener into the par-5. I had a tweener into 15. Had a little one into 16.
“Had a good number into 17 and then I hit it down the slope on 18, which kind of hurt me a little bit. But 18 was a tough pin to make a 3 anyway. But great week. Like I say, this is what I expect of myself. I’m very proud of kind of what I’m doing out here and the way I’ve committed myself to continuing to work, continuing to grind, and sometimes you need a little something back just to remind you that you’ve still got something left in the tank.”
It’s a big summer for McDowell who hasn’t played in a major championship since the 2020 US Open, when his 10-year winners exemption ran out so the Open at Portrush may be his last major if he can qualify.
“I’m going to use this as momentum to take forward to Dallas and then on to the British Open qualifier. Setting my sights on those two weeks. Dallas is a course that I’ve looked at and I like it.”
Chilean star Niemann picked up his fourth LIV victory of the season as he held off G Mac to win on 15-under. It’s the sixth time the 26-year-old has won on the Saudi backed tour and despite only posting one top-10 in his major championship career – at last month’s PGA Championship – McDowell expects big things from him.
“He’s just so good. He’s so good. He’s an absolute top 10 player in the world. You could argue top 5. Phenomenal, phenomenal player. Obviously can’t wait to see him go and play great next week at Oakmont.”
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