Hoylake, England – In the midst of a terrible season during which he missed the cut in six of his first seven PGA Tour events and placed no better than 16th in nine out of 10 starts on the European circuit, Graeme McDowell decided it was time for something different.
So, the player from Northern Ireland changed coaches, changed caddies, even got himself a new fitness trainer.
Sometimes, though, it takes that little unexpected something to put you over the top. So it was that McDowell found himself in a local pub Wednesday night on the eve of the British Open, sharing a pint or two with some friends.
“Some local came up to me and gives me that old, ‘Oh, you’re Graeme McDowell’ stuff. I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, here’s your autograph.’ And he said (critiquing his swing), ‘You get pretty laid off at the top, don’t you?’
“And I said, ‘Yeah, I guess I do.’ And he said, ‘Get a bit of work done on that, will you?”‘
Sufficiently chastened, McDowell came out to Royal Liverpool Golf Club on Thursday and did just that. On a glorious day in which anyone carrying a 6-iron onto the grounds was in position to drop a low number – “I have two arms and two legs; there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be leading,” said the heretofore unlamented Anthony Wall – the best score indeed belonged to a decidedly on-plane McDowell.
A sterling, bogey-free 6-under-par 66 placed him a shot ahead of a group of five players that included two more of the Empire’s finest, Wall and Greg Owen. But just when it seemed the pints would flow throughout the Kingdom in honor of the top-shelf effort, along came one of those ugly Americans to spoil the pending revelry.
That would be Tiger Woods. His dust-up with Nick Faldo settled with a practice-range handshake Wednesday, Woods sent his tee shot on the 554-yard, par-5 16th into the hay somewhere left of Al Franken, then made birdie. Then, for good measure, Woods rolled in a 20-footer for eagle on the 18th and a round of 67.
“You can make birdies out there,” Woods said in what proved to be a major understatement.
The Saharan weather that had baked the course all week gave way to a sustained rain Wednesday night around the time McDowell was getting home from his pub crawl. As a result, instead of approach shots that careened who knows where, balls actually stuck on the greens. That gave players a green light to fire at the pins.
As a result, 67 players finished under par, a total that easily shattered the Open mark of 59 set at St. Andrews in 1995. Ninety-one of the 156 players in the field were at even par or better.
Just as imposing as the total was the fact 32 players were within three shots of McDowell’s lead, a gaggle that, besides the defending champion Woods, included major championship winners Jim Furyk (68), Ernie Els (68), Mike Weir (68), Tom Lehman (68) and Phil Mickelson (69) , along with European stalwarts Sergio Garcia (68) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (67).
Of course, all of this may be completely inverted before the morning coffee’s cold in Colorado. McDowell begins today’s second round at 7:47 a.m. locally – which translates to not much before 1 a.m. in Denver. However, while his game hasn’t exactly been spot on – his best U.S. finish is 12th at the Wachovia Championship and he was eighth at the British Masters – all week there have been omens that things could take a turn for the better.
As was the case for most players in the field, during the pre-tournament practice rounds the scoreboard operators would put their names atop the leaderboard when they reached the 18th green. While the gesture was likely ignored by most, McDowell said he took it as a sign of things to come.
And of course, there was that late-night swing guru.
“I was kind of joking with the guys that if I were to shoot a 66, I guess I’d be wanting to see that guy on the range (this morning),” McDowell said. “And I’m sure he’ll be looking for a beer when he sees me.”
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
