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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