Graeme McDowell Qualifies For Open At Hometown Royal Portrush
After a good showing at the RBC Canadian Open, McDowell has qualified for the tournament in his hometown.


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After a good showing at the RBC Canadian Open, McDowell has qualified for the tournament in his hometown.
Graeme McDowell Qualifies For Open At Hometown Royal Portrush
Royal Portrush native Graeme McDowell sealed his participation in the 2019 Open Championship this week after securing one of the three qualifying spots on offer at the RBC Canadian Open.
The Northern Irishman did so in style too as he holed a 30-foot par putt on the 72nd hole to secure a tied 8th finish on 10-under.
Speaking of the putt below he said; “The putt was not makeable, no. The putt had 12 feet of break on it. It was a ridiculously tough putt to make. Just fancied it, I saw it, liked the way it looked, and when I saw it go in it was a huge relief.”
McDowell had clearly targeted qualification for the 2019 Open because of how well he knows Royal Portrush, and he had come close on several occasions earlier in the year. He flirted with qualification back at the Arnold Palmer Invitational before a final-round 78 derailed his chances, and he also had a victory in the Dominican Republic earlier this year too, however neither secured it outright.
"I think I had a reasonable belief in myself that I was going to be able to take care of it one of these weeks. Obviously as the pressure started to build it was going to be more difficult as it went along," McDowell said. "Obviously very proud to have got one of the Open Championship spots and get that little monkey off my back and let me go and play some golf the next few weeks."
Only one of the other qualification spots was filled due to USGA rules dictating the player must come in the top-10 to qualify. Because of this, Canadian Adam Hadwin was the other golfer to secure qualification to the last major tournament of 2019.
Indeed it was a good week for another Northern Irishman too as Rory McIlroy wrapped up the tournament with a scintillating final-round 61 that gave him a seven-shot victory.
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A golfer for most of his life, Sam started playing the game to prove he was the best player out of his father and two brothers.
He quickly became a golf equipment expert and has always been the one family and friends come to for buying advice, and spends a lot of his time putting golf gear, apparel and shoes to the test.
He is a graduate of Swansea University where he studied History and American Studies, and he has been a part of the Golf Monthly team since February 2018. He also previously worked for World Soccer and Rugby World magazines.
A jack of all trades across print and digital formats, Sam now spends most of his time testing and looking after golf gear content for the website. He also oversees all Tour player content as well.
Unfortunately, Sam is not a member of any club at the moment but regularly gets out on the golf course to keep up the facade of having a handicap of five.
Sam is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TS3
Fairway Wood: TaylorMade M5 (15 degrees), Nike Covert Tour 2.0 (19 degrees)
Irons (4-PW): Titleist AP2
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 54˚, 58˚
Putter: Scotty Cameron Circa 62 #6
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