Graeme McDowell Battles Bay Hill in 80

Graeme McDowell his third shot at the 15th hole during the first round of the 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at the Bay Hill Lodge and Country Club on Thursday in Orlando, Florida.

Perhaps the only positive thing to come out of Graeme McDowell’s round was the fact that it wasn’t his career worst, as that was an 81 in the final round of the 2005 U.S. Open at Shinnecock.

McDowell’s 80 on a windblown day at Bay Hill, however, does mark just the third time in his career he’s posted a score in the 80s on the PGA TOUR. The other came in the third round of the 2008 British Open at Royal Birkdale.

Thursday’s round also leaves the highest ranked player in the field near the bottom of the leaderboard.

McDowell managed to hit 10 fairways and 10 greens in regulation at Bay Hill, but he also took 34 putts and made just one birdie — compared to six bogeys and one triple bogey. The latter came on the par-5 sixth, where he hit his tee shot and then his approach shot into the water.

"After I made triple on No. 6, I was well aware that I had to finish with a few pars to break the old 80 barrier, but managed to three-whack eight just compound the error," McDowell told CBSSports.com. "It was one of those things. It was a battle out there and I tried to hang tough, but that triple bogey just kind of ended my week, probably."

The reigning U.S. Open champion also missed six putts from inside 10 feet.

"I got it all out of my system today," McDowell continued. "There’s not really an explanation. My long game’s kind of been a little off lately.

"Disappointing, really, not exactly what I had in mind and 80 is pretty awesome stuff. You know, this is a tough golf course and you really wanna be on top of your game out there and I was on top of nothing today. Didn’t drive it particularly well, my iron play was pretty weak and I putted awful."

If McDowell does miss the cut here, which seems likely, he’ll next head to Augusta National on Tuesday with Ian Poulter, Peter Hanson and Henrik Stenson

G McDowell Scorecard Round 1

GMAC GWAA Player of the Year

Graeme McDowell, Yani Tseng and Bernhard Langer have been named 2010 Players of the Year by the Golf Writers Association of America.

They will be honoured at the GWAA's Annual Awards Dinner April 6, 2011 in Augusta, Georgia.

In the closest race, McDowell received 43 percent of the votes (87 votes) for Male Player of the Year to 32 percent for Jim Furyk (61) and 25 percent for Martin Kaymer (51). Tseng received 69 percent of the vote (137 votes) for Female Player of the Year to 16 percent for Cristie Kerr (32) and Ai Miyazato had 15 percent (31). Langer received 94 percent of the vote (187 votes) for Player of the Year to six percent (13) for Fred Couples.

McDowell became the first European to win the U.S. Open in 40 years and his win at Pebble Beach was one of four for the Northern Irishman. He won the decisive match for Europe at the Ryder Cup and his fourth win was a come-from-behind playoff win over Tiger Woods at the Chevron World Challenge.

McDowell also won the Golf Writers Trophy (a vote of the Association of Golf Writers) and shared European Tour Player of the Year honours with Kaymer. 

He is the second European to win Player of the Year in the last three years.Padraig Harrington won the honour in 2008

Tseng won two LPGA majors -- the Kraft Nabisco Championship and Women's British Open -- in her three-win season. She had eight top-10 finishes, finished fourth on the money list and was the LPGA's Rolex Player of the Year.

Langer won back-to-back majors -- Senior Open at Carnoustie and U.S. Senior Open at Sahalee -- and won five times on the Champions Tour. He led the money list, captured the season-long Charles Schwab Cup and won his third consecutive Champions Tour Player of the Year honour.

The GWAA, founded in 1946, takes an active role in protecting the interests of all golf journalists, works closely with all of golf's major governing bodies and the World Golf Hall of Fame.

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From Portrush to Pebble Beach

Graeme McDowell’s journey from a ten year old on the links terrain of Portrush, Northern Ireland, to US Open Champion at Pebble Beach, California, is undoubtedly one of supreme talent, self belief and hard work. But perhaps the most telling attribute of the man who ended Europe’s 40-year drought for a US Open Champion on Sunday night is a glint in the eye that reveals a born winner with an unerring ability to turn intense pressure into pure inspiration.

It is always difficult to pinpoint what the French so beautifully describe as ‘je ne sais quoi’. No matter what you call it, ‘G-Mac’, as he is known to everyone in the game, has always had that little bit extra about him. Take that aura of confidence and mix it with the down to earth roots of a modest upbringing in Portrush and you have one the game’s good guys.

Born on the north Antrim coast of Northern Ireland in 1979 to parents Kenny and Marion, the middle child of three brothers, Graeme picked up a golf club for the first time aged seven, when his dad would take Graeme and younger brother Gary to the local pitch-and-putt course. At the age of ten, the boys were allowed to join Rathmore, the golf club which shares the world-famous links of Royal Portrush.

It was there that Graeme mastered his craft, spending full summers at the golf club, honing the instinctive ball-striking talent and fearsome competitive spirit that would see him hold off the challenges of, among others, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els to win his first Major title at Pebble Beach.

In between smashing balls across the road from his family home and hoisting aloft the US Open Championship trophy (the first European to do so since Tony Jacklin in 1970), McDowell enjoyed a sparkling golfing ascent that peaked so spectacularly last week.

He quickly rose through the amateur ranks in Ulster, and soon set off for America and a scholarship in Birmingham, Alabama, where, in his last year at College, he won six out of eight tournaments and compiled a season average score of 69.6 that season broke an all-time record held by Tiger Woods and Luke Donald. Next up was a prominent role in a famous Walker Cup victory by the GB&I team at Sea Island, Georgia, in 2001.

He turned professional in May 2002, and within weeks completed a dramatic maiden victory in sudden-death at the Volvo Scandinavian Masters, his fourth outing on the European Tour. McDowell often looks back on that first victory as coming too soon in his career. He found it all too easy and was soon attempting to star on both The European and US PGA Tours but, despite claiming the 2004 Italian Open, the plan stalled and he came up short in his first attempt to break into golf’s elite.

The desire was still there though, and with a trademark grin, the boy became a man and assumed total control of his life and career, linking up Irish sports management company, Horizon, forging a powerful bond with one of golf’s most experienced caddies, Ken Comboy, taking a year out from club sponsorship to find his ideal manufacturer, Callaway, and going home to Portrush.

All of those brave decisions were vindicated in 2008 when McDowell stormed back onto the world scene with victories in the Ballantine’s Championship and The Barclays Scottish Open to cement a place in his first Ryder Cup Team. Europe may have lost The Ryder Cup at Valhalla, but aside from Ian Poulter’s unbelievable debut that saw the Englishman win four out of five points, McDowell was amongst Europe’s best players, fuelled by the unique, turbo-charged atmosphere.

It was at Valhalla where McDowell revealed himself to be a potential Major winner. The atmosphere at any Ryder Cup is the hottest in golf, and the man from Portrush absorbed every drop of tension and pressure and channelled it into his game.

He may not have the sheer confidence of Poulter, the presence of Woods, the magic of Mickelson or the pedigree of Els, but McDowell possesses a little bit of all the great players of the modern era, and the thing that seems to bring all of those facets together in his game is pure pressure. As the man himself said going into the final round at Pebble Beach: “If I get a chance on Sunday, I’ll be ready.”

Never before had he been more ready. McDowell travelled to America on the back of a supreme performance at The Celtic Manor Wales Open, where he posted final rounds of 64-63 to win over the Twenty Ten Course – venue for this year’s Ryder Cup – by five strokes.

He arrived at Pebble Beach, one of the game’s most brutal arenas, from Portrush in the form of his life, went toe-to-toe with the world’s best players and emerged as the last man standing. If you take a close look at McDowell posing with the US Open Championship trophy, you will notice a certain glint in his eye burning brightly.