Graeme McDowell

Graeme McDowell Biography

Graeme McDowell was born in Portrush, Northern Ireland on 30th July 1979. From 1998 to 2002 he attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham. While at University he was ranked Number One Collegiate Golfer in the United States and out of 12 starts won an incredible six events beating the previous best returned by Luke Donald and Tiger Woods. Before turning professional in 2002, he played a prominent role in Great Britain and Ireland’s retention of the Walker Cup in 2001 at Sea Island in Georgia.

McDowell Won his maiden European Tour title on only his fourth start in the 2002 Scandinavian Masters and confirmed that potential by finishing sixth on the Order of Merit in 2004 after capturing his second Tour victory in the Telecom Italia Open.

In 2005 he split his time between the European and PGA Tours. He was not yet a full member of the PGA Tour but his top 50 placing in the Official World Golf Rankings ensured he received invitations to play in many events in the U.S. and McDowell managed two top ten finishes on the PGA Tour including tied second place at the Bay Hill Invitational which earned him enough money to become fully exempt on the PGA Tour in 2006.

In 2006 he failed to finish in the top 150 in the PGA Tour money list and decided to return to the European Tour in 2007.

In March 2008 he played one of the shots of his career,a sublime seven iron from 179 yards to within a foot of the cup on the third extra hole, to win the inaugural Ballantine’s Championship in Korea in a thrilling sudden-death play-off. This was followed another win at the Barclays Scottish Open. He played in the 2008 Ryder Cup, earning 2.5 points for the European team and finished the season ranked fifth on the Order of Merit.