Graeme McDowell is back in a major championship for the first time in six years, and this week's US Open at Shinnecock Hills gives him a chance to add one more chapter to a career that once ran through golf's biggest stages. He is 46, arrived through a 36-hole qualifier in Dallas last month, and said the return carries extra weight because he wants his son Wills to see him play in one.
"I wasn't sure I was ever going to get to show him me out here playing in it with the old hourglass, the sands of time continue to deplete if you like" — that was McDowell's view of the comeback. He also said: "There's a large appreciation for me being here this time at a major. At a point in my career, these were automatic and when they get taken away from you, you realise how much you miss them and appreciate the opportunity to be on golf's biggest stages."
McDowell and Shinnecock Hills
The venue asks for a clean tee ball. McDowell put it plainly: "You must drive it well. The fairways are generous but if you miss them, you're in trouble," and he added that the greens require discipline and creativity when he misses in the wrong spots. He also pointed to the bunkers, saying they have "a lot of stones and shells" and that the course will test "every department of the skill-set."
That challenge comes with a simple reminder of how long the gap has been. McDowell made 34 consecutive appearances on golf's biggest stages between 2008 and 2016, won the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach, and has not made the cut at a major since the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
McDowell's major drought
The return also lands after a long run without one of golf's biggest starts. McDowell and Rory McIlroy missed the cut at Shinnecock Hills in 2018, and McDowell's most recent win came at the 2020 Saudi International. On LIV Golf, his best finish was tied second in Virginia last year.
For McDowell, the immediate task is plain: turn a place in the field into four full rounds at a major again. For the first time in six years, he gets that chance with his family watching and with the same venue that once sent him home early back on the schedule.
