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McDowell: Big boost for his career

How many times now has Tiger produced at the 72nd hole? This time it was a curling 25 footer that died of exhaustion at the edge of the hole. The streak continues, and the worrying thing for his peers is that it shows no sign of ending.

Ewen Murray
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C.A. CHAMPIONSHIP
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What a fitting end to Korea's inaugural event on the European Tour.

The performances of Ireland's Graeme McDowell and India's Jeev Singh got the Ballentine's sponsored tournament off to a flier and it is no surprise the company have signed a three-year deal to continue their involvement in a country that is experiencing a golfing boom.

The scoring of Singh and McDowell was fabulous given that the third-placed player, Ireland's Paul McGinley, was a distant seven shots behind them. In the end it was a pity one of them had to lose

Graeme's win is his third on the European Tour and his second in a play-off. It comes after he had changed everything about his career. A new coach in Clive Tucker, whose base is at Mannings Heath, a new management company, Horizon in Dublin and his new fitness regime which began at the end of last year.

McDowell signed with ISM when he turned professional and there were benefits from that. Along with the likes of Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood and David Howell, he would play practice rounds and the information gleaned from them no doubt helped him to develop.

The downside was that he was perhaps in their shadow and that may well have been the reason for the change. Whatever, the changes have worked well in his favour and after a lean time by his own high standards, his career is very much back on track.

For Jeev, it was his second near miss this year, but he can take many positives out of the week. It's already been a successful season, having hosted two excellent events in India, and many more to come in the future.

Paul McGinley will be pleased with his third place after a couple of years without a top-10 finish.

He has an enviable golf swing, but at times fails to deliver on the greens. His putting was more consistent last week, and the confidence gained from his high finish means he can look forward to the next few weeks with optimism.

Paul is one of golf's gentlemen, but don't be fooled. There is a strong desire to succeed and having turned down Nick Faldo's invitation to be a vice captain at Valhalla, Paul still has designs on making Faldo's team. Another few weeks like last week and he will be knocking on the door.

Patent

With the second of the World Golf Championship events upon us, some of you will have been scanning the internet to see if Tiger would win at Bay Hill again. Seven behind Vijay at the halfway stage, it looked unlikely, but a 66 in round three put him back in contention. I watched NBC's coverage on Sunday and even Johnny Miller and Roger Maltbie were lost for words.

Another 66, all finished off in a style that has become the patent of Tiger. On Golf Night last Friday, Di Stewart, Jamie Spence and myself discussed the phenomenon of Woods.

How many times now has Tiger produced at the 72nd hole? This time it was a curling 25 footer that died of exhaustion at the edge of the hole. The streak continues, and the worrying thing for his peers is that it shows no sign of ending.

I felt for the runner-up, Bart Bryant - 68,68,68,67. Only the fifth player in 30 years of playing Bay Hill that has managed four rounds in the 60s.

Tiger tees up at Doral this week as Sky Sports present nearly 20 hours of live action beginning on Thursday.

Monster

Doral was formerly known as the Blue Monster, but since the hurricane blew in a few years ago, the monster has lost much of its teeth. The same question will be asked,who can stop the world number one? It seems no one has the answer.

Phil Mickelson has a good record at Doral and his continuing work with Butch Harmon has given him more consistency off the tee. It may come down to these two on Sunday

The reward for Jeev Singh and Graeme McDowell is a place in the elite field and a good week will see a surge up the world rankings for them.

Retief Goosen showed some good form at Bay Hill with a final round of 68 and his fellow countryman Ernie Els will want a repeat of his Honda form after skipping Orlando.

Adam Scott put in many hours of practise at his home club, Queenwood, last week and if he can produce the excellence he displayed in Qatar, he could be a factor.

Lee Westwood is in top form and has the confidence after a superb run during the last six months.

But I'm clutching at straws. If the winner next week is not Tiger, then the champion will have performed to his highest possible level, and beyond.