GRAEME MCDOWELL DISPLAYED the resolve of a champion this evening at the Canadian Open, sinking a monster putt on the final hole to secure a place at this year’s Open Championship in Royal Portrush.
All this week the Northern Irishman had fielded questions about qualifying for his ‘home Open’ and was forced to battle hard in his final round to make sure he was involved in the action next month.
A flawless final round in Toronto was just rewards for his performance this week and back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th holes put him inside the cut for qualifying positions.
However, on the last hole, an errant tee shot forced him to scramble and his chip onto the green – his third shot on the par-four 18th – ran right past the hole leaving him with considerable work to do to make par and confirm his place at the Open.
With the galleries watching on knowing exactly how momentous his final stroke of the week would be, McDowell displayed immense mental fortitude to save his round and card a Sunday 68.
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“It was difficult to keep my focus,” he told Sky Sports after his round. “I birdied 12 and 13 to get me going and tried my best to mess it up on 17 and 18.
I missed the fairway on 17, I knew it was a massive tee shot that I messed up. Didn’t make birdie. I missed the fairway on the last and then chipped it 30ft by [the hole].
“I just liked the way the putt looked and it was nice to see it go in. In the back of my mind I was kind of thinking two putts might do it, but just to be sure it looked like I needed to hole it.
“It was a nice way to do it.”
The Open takes place at Royal Portrush from 18-21 July.
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