"Terminator" McDowell the last man standing at Valderrama
Is there tougher man in world golf right now than Graeme McDowell?
The answer to that question has to be a resounding “no” after the 31-year old US Open champion came through a final round battle for survival on a blustery day in Spain to win the €3 million Andalucia Valderrama Masters by two shots on three under par from fellow Irishmen Gareth Maybin (76) and Damien McGrane (72) and the Dane Soren Kjeldsen (69).
In a final round performance reminiscent of his closing effort at Pebble Beach in June, McDowell carded a three over par 74 to capture his third title of a memorable season and the seventh of his career, slashing in half Martin Kaymer’s lead at the top of the Race to Dubai.
The German had close to a €1m lead starting the week but the gap is now just €528,581 with four events remaining.
Not only that but McDowell also jumped into the world’s top 10 for the first time and No 10, which means that Europe now holds six of the top 10 places in a world ranking now headed by Lee Westwood.
“It’s very special to win here and I draw a lot of comparisons with Pebble Beach,” said a delighted but relieved McDowell. “It was a war of attrition and the last man standing really. Damien and Gareth are both grinders in their own right and I was just happy that I could eventually get the job done.
“It really has been a special season and I couldn’t imagine it would have gone the way it has. I’m very excited. I’ve punched a bit of a hole in Martin’s lead and I’ll go to Shanghai now and look to give him a run for his money.”
McGrane led by a shot with three to play when he holed a bunker shot for a two at the 15th - his second chip in of the day.
But the Kells man double bogeyed the 16th after tangling with trees on the right and dropped further shots at the 17th and 18th- seventeen strokes for the last three holes - to finish tied third with Maybin and Kjeldsen, who equalled the low round of the day with a two under par 69.
McDowell was one clear of Maybin as they faced their third shots to the treacherous 17th green. But Maybin dumped his eight iron from the right rough in the water with McDowell safely on the green.
The Ballyclare man, impressive all week, saved a bogey six from the drop zone and looked on as McDowell faced a seven footer for his par five. Not for the first time this season, his Horizon Sports stablemate drilled home the putt to walk off with a two-stroke lead.
He could afford to play the last as a par-five. Laying up in the neck of the green, chipping to 12 feet and two putting for a famous victory worth €500,000.
Maybin and McGrane both earned €223,710 to copper-fasten their places in the Dubai World Championship that will decide this year’s European No 1
“It’s probably one of the most enjoyable weeks that I’ve had,” said Maybin. “To come up two shots shy was probably the right result but I’m very proud of how I bounced back and I’ll take a lot from that.”
McGrane was bitterly disappointed not to add to his lone European Tour win in the 2008 Volvo China Open but recognised that he had been bitten by the golf course.
“I had plenty of good fortune, but to hand it all away at the end was disappointing,” he said. “I didn’t hit any bad shots, I just got fliers when I didn’t need them. But that’s Valderrama - when it bites, it bites hard.”
Kaymer closed with a 75, finishing on seven over and so missed out on the chance to take over from Tiger Woods as world number one spot.
That honour went to the absentee Lee Westwood.
Shane Lowry finished on six over after 75, leaving him one place outside the magic number at 61st in the Race to Dubai standings. Darren Clarke (75) finished on eight over with Michael Hoey (75) 10 over and Peter Lawrie (77) back on 13 over.
Andalucia Valderrama Masters - Final
281 Graeme McDowell 68 67 72 74
283 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 71 75 68 69, Damien McGrane 68 73 70 72, Gareth Maybin 69 68 70 76
284 Thomas Bjorn (Den) 72 69 71 72, Joost Luiten (Ned) 74 69 72 69
285 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70 70 71 74, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 70 73 71
287 Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 71 73 72 71
288 Anthony Wall 72 73 71 72, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 73 72 73 70, Steve Webster 73 74 69 72, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 73 69 76
289 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70 71 72 76, Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 70 71 72 76, Ross Fisher 71 73 72 73, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 71 76 70 72
290 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 74 67 75 74, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 73 69 75 73, Shane Lowry 73 71 71 75
291 Robert Rock 71 74 71 75, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 71 75 70 75, Richard Green (Aus) 72 71 73 75, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 74 70 75, Gregory Havret (Fra) 74 70 71 76
292 David Drysdale 73 72 76 71, James Kingston (Rsa) 71 70 73 78, David Howell 76 71 70 75, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 72 73 76 71, Darren Clarke 72 70 75 75 , Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 70 76 75, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 71 71 77 73
293 Oliver Wilson 74 72 71 76, Jamie Donaldson 72 73 74 74
294 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 70 73 73 78, Soren Hansen (Den) 70 75 75 74, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 74 70 75 75, Thomas Levet (Fra) 73 71 74 76, Michael Hoey 70 72 77 75
295 Chris Wood 72 74 73 76, Marc Warren 75 72 75 73, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 73 66 76 80, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 71 71 76 77
296 Anthony Kang (USA) 73 72 68 83, Gary Boyd 71 69 78 78, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 69 78 72 77
297 Peter Hanson (Swe) 72 74 71 80, Peter Lawrie 72 74 74 77 , Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 66 77 76 78
299 Martin Wiegele (Aut) 73 74 76 76, Stephen Gallacher 75 71 77 76
300 Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 71 76 74 79, Santiago Luna (Spa) 72 74 76 78
301 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 72 75 75 79