When Padraig harrington crashed his SUV, at 2:30 a.m. in the morning on Nov. 27, 2009, it completely changed the lives of two expert golfers: Tiger himself, and Graeme McDowell. Right now, every person knows the Tiger story of infidelity, sex addiction rehab, lost endorsements, divorce and also the apparent loss of the unbelievable talent that has allowed him to win 14 majors and 71 PGA Tour events. Even so, not everybody knows the other side of the story, or the silver lining, for a moment.
The then 30-year-old Graeme McDowell from Northern Ireland was the 55th ranked player in the world, and was playing the World Cup in China when he learned about the shocking allegations of Tiger Woods' planet falling apart. He'd planned to head home to Florida, and go ahead and take rest of the year off, when he was agreed to take Tiger's location within the Chevron World Challenge, hosted annually by Woods. McDowell was a surprising addition to the tournament, as normally invites received to the defending champion, the very best 11 players within the planet, and four sponsors exemptions. 2009 seemed to be the 1st year that the tournament counted for world ranking points. McDowell took benefit of his opportunity, and placed second, just behind Jim Furyk, which vaulted him to 38th on the planet, and secured him a location inside the 2010 Masters.
Although G-Mac, and that he is often referred to as, struggled to some plus-five and missed cut in the Masters, he managed to remain in the top-50 rankings, and earned an invitation to the US Open. When the pressure was off, of securing his place in the US Open, McDowell won the ecu Tour's Wales Open on June 6, then headed to Pebble Beach. McDowell began strong, and held charge going into the weekend, prior to Dustin Johnson shot the lights on Saturday, and G-Mac was second heading to the final round.
Johnson was plus-five in the first three holes to fallout of contention, and McDowell found himself alone in top spot. He avoided Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, who had been chasing him from two and four strokes behind, respectively, and fended off late challenges from 1994 and 1997 champion Ernie Els, and comparatively unknown French player Gregory Havret. McDowell increased the rankings to 13th in the world with his US Open victory, after which just kept climbing. In the 2010 Ryder Cup, held at Celtic Manor Resort, in Wales, McDowell took 3 and a half of a feasible 4 points, like sinking the Cup-winning putt for Team Europe! On Oct. 31, McDowell wrapped in the Andalucia Valderrama Masters, and in December was named the ecu Tour Player of the Year, together with German Martin Kaymer.
McDowell's magical season wrapped up, back where it all started, Tiger's Chevron Planet Challenge at Sherwood Nation Club, in stunningly ironic fashion. Tiger looked like the Tiger of old, posting three straight rounds within the 60s to open the tournament, and going for a four-shot lead into the final day. Tiger had never lost a lead of 3 or even more strokes on a Sunday, and several assumed it was more than. G-Mac had other ideas, and made an incredible 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th to make a playoff with Woods. About the initial playoff hole, McDowell sunk one more miraculous putt from 25 feet, and, when Woods missed from 15 feet, the championship was his! Woods was kept from winning a tournament all season, the very first time in his career, and helped generate possibly his most dangerous foe. McDowell wouldn't have even qualified for the US Open if it hadn't been for that shocking downfall of Woods, and the now seventh ranked golfer on the planet looks to be a threat for years to come.
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