GRAEME McDOWELL MAKES FRENCH OPEN HIS THIRD WIN OF SEASON

 GRAEME McDOWELL, French Open Champion 2013. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)

 

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

 Graeme McDowell continued his remarkable winning streak by holding off playing partner Richard Sterne to secure a third title of the year at the Alstom Open de France today.
McDowell carded a closing 67 at Le Golf National to finish nine under par, four clear of South Africa's Sterne, who had been only one behind until bogeys at the 16th and 17th.
Sterne eventually did well to par the 18th for a final round of 71 to make sure of outright second, with 2007 winner Graeme Storm and Spain's Eduardo de la Riva a shot behind.
McDowell missed the cut in last week's Irish Open but reaped the rewards of staying on at Carton House over the weekend to work on his game, the first prize of €500,000 taking him less than €30,000 behind Justin Rose at the top of The Race to Dubai.
It should also lift the former US Open Champion from ninth to sixth when the Official World Golf Rankings is updated on Monday, with The Open Championship at Muirfield just around the corner.
The 33 year old Ulsterman began the day tied with Sterne and made the perfect start with a birdie from 15 feet at the opening hole, but Sterne responded with a two-putt birdie on the par five third, where McDowell was lucky not to find a water hazard with his drive.
Both players then birdied the fifth before a poor drive cost McDowell a bogey on the seventh, while the par five ninth produced matching birdies for the final group from a greenside bunker.
McDowell was quick to get back on level terms at the start of the back nine, holing from nine feet for a birdie on the tenth and then missing from a similar distance on the next.
Sterne dropped his first shot of the day on the 12th after driving into heavy rough and coming up short of the green with his approach, and he looked certain to also bogey the 13th as well.
The South African committed the cardinal sin of taking an iron for safety only to push his tee shot into a water hazard, but after taking a penalty drop he hit his third shot to 20 feet and holed for an unlikely par.
Luck certainly appeared to be on McDowell's side as he pulled his tee shot on the 16th but saw the ball take a fortunate bounce away from the heavy rough and kick 90 degrees right.
That left him with a relatively simple up and down, but he needed more good fortune after pulling his par putt and the sheepish grin after it somehow found the left edge of the hole told its own story.
Sterne had called for a "G-Mac bounce" after also pulling his tee shot but was not so fortunate and a bogey four gave McDowell a two shot lead with two to play, the Northern Irishman then making certain of victory with a superb birdie on the 17th.
McDowell, in his last eight tournaments has missed the cut five times and won the other three. 

Sterne eventually did well to par the 18th for a final round of 71 to make sure of outright second, with 2007 winner Graeme Storm and Spain's Eduardo de la Riva a shot behind.

McDowell missed the cut in last week's Irish Open but reaped the rewards of staying on at Carton House over the weekend to work on his game, the first prize of €500,000 euros taking him within €30,000 of US Open Champion Justin Rose at the top of The Race to Dubai.

"It's very special after the last couple of months," McDowell admitted. "It's been a bit of a battle. It's been a funny year. My game has not felt far away most weeks but I have missed a lot more cuts than normal and missing cuts hurts. 

"It certainly motivated me a lot the last few weeks. The US Open was a tough one to take and missing the cut in Ireland last week; it made me more hungry to want to be in positions like I was this afternoon.

“To win a title as prestigious as the French Open over a course that I think is the best we play on The European Tour, is very special and something I will remember for a long time.” 

McDowell was quick to extol the virtues of Le Golf National as a Ryder Cup host venue, with the Versailles course set to host the biennal match between Europe and the United States in 2018.

“It's going to be a phenomenal venue come 2018,” he said. “I think the guys, Jean Van de Velde and his team, have done a fantastic job here.  This golf course has got better and better every year and I think we are in for one of the greatest Ryder Cups of all time in a few years' time, and I just hope I can be here for that.”

 

ALL THE FINAL TOTALS

  Par 284 (4x71)

275 G McDowell  (Nir) 69 69 70 67

279 R Sterne  (RSA) 68 69 71 71

280 G Storm  (Eng) 70 68 73 69, E De La Riva  (Esp) 72 67 72 69

281 S Dyson  (Eng) 70 68 72 71

282 J Donaldson (Wal) 70 70 71 71, R Green (Aus) 69 70 70 73

283 D Howell (Eng) 69 71 69 74, S Gallacher (Sco) 68 70 75 70, G Maybin (Nir) 71 73 71 68, T Björn (Den) 68 69 74 72, S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 68 73 73

284 M Kaymer (Ger) 68 76 69 71, M Warren (Sco) 69 72 70 73, G Shaw (Nir) 72 69 74 69, B Wiesberger  (Aut) 70 71 68 75, H Otto (RSA) 71 71 69 73

285 S Benson (Eng) 71 72 73 69, V Dubuisson  (Fra) 68 75 76 66, F Molinari (Ita) 71 74 67 73, S Khan (Eng) 71 73 68 73, J Campillo (Esp) 74 69 68 74, F Aguilar (Chi) 68 72 74 71, D McGrane (Irl) 70 72 74 69

286 I Poulter (Eng) 73 71 69 73, K Broberg (Swe) 72 69 73 72, L Slattery (Eng) 71 70 70 75, M Manassero (Ita) 73 69 73 71,

287 S Henry  (Sco) 73 68 74 72, R Wattel  (Fra) 67 75 74 71, T Pieters  (Bel) 70 72 75 70, R Derksen (Ned) 72 70 73 72, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 70 72 72 73

288 R Finch  (Eng) 75 70 74 69, A Dunbar (Nir) 70 75 72 71, G Bourdy (Fra) 69 73 70 76, R Fisher (Eng) 70 73 71 74

289 M Nixon (Eng) 68 73 74 74, A Hansen (Den) 66 78 75 70, M Madsen  (Den) 71 71 77 70, G Fdez-Castaño  (Esp) 74 71 72 72

290 D Drysdale (Sco) 70 74 69 77, M Lundberg (Swe) 71 74 72 73, L Donald  (Eng) 71 73 71 75, A Cañizares  (Esp) 71 69 80 70, C Doak (Sco) 71 70 72 77, C Lloyd (Eng) 70 73 73 74, F Zanotti (Par) 68 68 78 76

291 J Luiten (Ned) 71 71 73 76, M Kuchar  (USA) 70 75 73 73, S Hansen (Den) 75 67 74 75

292 A Snobeck  (Fra) 76 69 73 74, J Morrison  (Eng) 69 72 75 76, J Parry (Eng) 74 70 70 78, E Goya (Arg) 68 76 77 71, M Lafeber (Ned) 76 69 74 73, A Levy (Fra) 69 76 75 72

293 M Jiménez (Esp) 69 76 68 80

294 T Aiken (RSA) 71 74 74 75, S Jamieson  (Sco) 69 70 80 75, I Garrido (Esp) 75 70 68 81

295 R Ramsay  (Sco) 69 71 73 82

296 M Hoey  (Nir) 69 74 74 79, L Gagli  (Ita) 73 72 75 76

299 S Chowrasia (Ind) 76 67 82 74

 

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