Graeme McDowell is a
professional golfer from Northern Ireland who plays
on the European Tour.
McDowell, like an increasing number of promising junior UK
golfers, McDowell took a golf scholarship at an
American university. He attended the University of
Alabama at Birmingham from 1998 to 2002. In 2002, he
won the Haskins Award for most outstanding
collegiate golfer in the United States. In 2001 he
was a member of the Great Britain and Ireland team
which retained the Walker Cup at Sea Island in
Georgia.
McDowell turned professional in 2002 and won that
season's Volvo Scandinavian Masters, which was only
his fourth start on the European Tour. He didn't win
in his second season, but in 2004 he claimed the
Telecom Italia Open and finished sixth on the
European Tour Order of Merit. In 2005 he divided 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.
However he failed to finish in the top 150 in the
2006 PGA Tour money list and decided to return to
the European Tour in 2007.
In 2008 he returned to the winners enclosure by
winning first the Ballantine's Championship in Korea
and then the Barclays Scottish Open, thus almost
guaranteeing his place on the Ryder Cup.
