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THE IRISH OPENJune 26, 2013Graeme McDowellKILDARE, IRELAND STEVE TODD: Thanks for joining us here at The Irish Open. It's a special week for the Irish players. Give us your thoughts on being here at Carton House this week. GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, like you say, great to be here. Always a special week for the Irish players, going from the claustrophobic nature of Merion to the opposite of here at Carton House; it's a pretty amazing piece of land here. Golf course is in phenomenal condition. I think they have learned a lot from the course setup in 2005 and 2006 when obviously the weather didn't comply, and it made the golf course play extremely tough. I think they have got it spot on this week with not much rough. The golf course doesn't need a lot of rough; it's well bunkered‑‑ well, it's very well bunkered, in fact. The bunkers are extremely penal, extremely deep and green surfaces are as good as I've seen in a long time, and I think it's set for a really exciting week. You know, golf gods look like they might comply for a change here in Ireland and that really makes a huge difference. Coming off the back of last year at Royal Portrush and the crowds we had there, you know, excited. Excited for that boost of energy and momentum that we got last year and hopefully we can continue it this year with great crowds and great atmosphere. And I just love what they have done here. They have really put a lot of effort into making this an exciting weekend and the grandstands on the back of 17, should be a lot of fun, pint in Guinness in hand come the weekend and a bit of sunshine, should be a phenomenal atmosphere here out there on Sunday afternoon. Not quite the Phoenix Open, but Dublin's version of, and it should make for a great weekend. So 25, 26 Irish players here this week, hopefully we can have several of those in contention and obviously I would love to be one of those guys come the weekend. Q. You've had an extraordinary season, win or missed the cut, and unlike you, because you're normally a consistency person, Pádraig Harrington said yesterday that consistency is overrated; would you like to have one of your peak weeks this week? Obviously you would. GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, kind of what Pádraig said, consistency is fractionally overrated, there's no doubt about that. This week is about your big weeks; it's not about your bad weeks. As much as it hurts coming down the stretch at Merion knowing that I'm heading for my second missed the cut on the spin, it hurts, and it's disappointing, it's frustrating. But in the big picture, you know, my season will still read very strong. My season will still read two wins, two top 5s in WGCs, and I wouldn't swap that season for last year's season, you know, 12th at the Masters, second at the U.S. Open. I wouldn't swap my first six months of 2013 for my first six months of 2012, I really wouldn't. The wins are hugely important. To win at the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, get my first authentic TOUR win in the States over the line; to win the Volvo World Match Play; yes, it doesn't quite have the field of yesteryear, it's still a very prestigious European Tour event and I'm very proud to add my name to that trophy. It's been an erratic year, certainly on paper. Has not felt quite that erratic kind of in my head. I feel like I'm getting better all the time. Consistency is something we all strive for. It's the old adage, you would take two missed cuts and a win, as opposed to three 12ths. Really, the mathematics speak for themselves; the World Ranking points speak for themselves, and that's kind of the way my season is reading this year, and like I say, I wouldn't really swap it. Q. Pádraig Harrington still says that it's the fifth major and now there are so many events to compete with Majors; where does The Irish Open rate on your priority list of must‑wins? GRAEME McDOWELL: There's no doubt The Irish Open is on my golfing bucket list. It's an event that I've never really competed in. It's an event I would love to win and I would love to add it to my C.V. To play; to win your National Open, is a very special win in a player's heart. It's been seven years since a Northern Irish player has won this event. That's a stat we would love to change this weekend. With Shane winning a few years ago at Baltray and we saw what that meant to everyone, and Pádraig down in Limerick four or five years ago. There's no doubt, I would love to win this one. It's certainly one I'll be giving 100 per cent to this week. It kicks off a very busy summer of golf for me, and Merion has done nothing but motivate me and make me more hungry for contention and being in the mix come the weekend. I'm ready to go this week and I'm looking forward to it. Q. Weather is always such a big part of The Irish Open, and we've got a good forecast, but the fact that you're here, Rory's here, Pádraig is here, Darren Clarke is here, Major winners, star; if you were not here, the rest of the field is not as good as it could be, your thoughts on the fact that your commitment to this event is absolutely crucial to its existence? GRAEME McDOWELL: I think we are all acutely aware as Irish players, we support this event year‑in and year‑out. The support of myself and Rory, Pádraig and Darren and Paul and Shane and Michael Hoey and all the players beyond, that's guaranteed. You know, a phenomenal venue here in Ireland, that's guaranteed.  Can't guarantee the weather. But we can guarantee phenomenal crowds and phenomenal support. We are all very motivated to try and reinstate The Irish Open as one of the premiere events on The European Tour. What do we need for that? We need a great date on the schedule; two weeks after the U.S. Open, three weeks before the British Open. It's a tough enough date to attract a world‑class field.  We need a great sponsor. We need to boost this tournament financially and make it a little bit more lucrative, try and attract a world‑class field. You know, the players that support this event year‑in and year‑out are very motivated to try to put this event back in the map, and like I say, our support is guaranteed. And a title sponsor is what we need, and from there, a great date in the schedule and we'll go from there. So it's a work‑in‑progress, but I think the event really feels like it's turned a corner the last couple years and hopefully the future is bright from here. Q. Do you get a sense from your fellow professionals (more would come here) if there was a different date or sponsor?  GRAEME McDOWELL: I think golfing in Ireland, players love to come here. You only have to look at years gone past; the Tiger Woods of the world flying in here the weeks before The Open and bouncing around the great golf courses that we have to offer, the Portrushes and the County Downs and the Watervilles and the Ballybunions and Portmarnock and the many courses around Dublin. We don't struggle for great venue here in Ireland, let's be honest. Obviously with Keegan Bradley coming across to Portrush last year, he was a great supporter of the event, loved his experience here. I know that he would come back if we can get the right date and the right venue, and more would follow, there's no doubt about that. I think The European Tour schedule, there's no doubt, we're struggling; we're struggling for great events in Britain and Ireland and Continental Europe and that's an issue we are all trying to address, trying to come up with better dates on the schedule that suit everyone. Perhaps a nice swing around Wentworth, a nice swing around The Open Championship, and potentially a swing around the Dunhill Links area, as well. Those are areas on the schedule that we are all looking at and trying to come up with a plan as to how we make the events more lucrative, financially and from a venue point of view. You know, certainly The Irish Open, to me, is one of the events that will slot into those parts of the schedule. Why couldn't we play a phenomenal links golf course the week before or the week after the British Open here in Ireland for four or five million Euros; that would be a class opportunity and attract a world‑class field. Q. (Inaudible.) GRAEME McDOWELL: I think you look at any top player that's ever played the game aside from a Tiger Woods, who is extra phenomenal; you look at the graph from a distance and it will look like an upward curve. You start to focus in on that graph, and all of a sudden you start to see these up‑and‑down troughs and peaks and troughs. Rory is no different from any other extraordinary athlete that's played the game. He experiences ups and he experiences downs. Those athletes typically learn a lot from their downs and come out bigger and better and stronger, and that's what I expect Rory to do. He's still the same guy and he's still got the same phenomenal golf swing and same phenomenal attitude to the game. It's only a matter of time before his results start to follow. Yeah, he's in a mini‑slump for a Rory McIlroy. He's still an extraordinary golfer, and we all experience those many slumps. People that show up tomorrow morning to watch him will watch a guy who is exciting and makes the game look easy, and you know, he's the kind of guy that I'll be expecting to keep this weekend if things go his way. He's the favourite to win this event for good reason, and, yeah, I expect the old form is temporary, class is permanent. Rory is not far way. I played with him a couple weeks ago at Wentworth and you can tell his game, it's very, very close to being back to his form of last year. Q. You've probably been asked this question many times leading up to The Irish Open, but where does an Irish Open win rate to you and is it fair to say that if you never win an Irish Open, you would be pretty disappointed? GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, I mean, like I say, golfing bucket list is probably the easiest way to describe it. A National Open, even though Rory jokes that I've already won my National Open at the U.S. Open (laughter). Of course, I'd love to win an Irish Open. It's a very special event. My form, my record here, doesn't really read very well, and, you know, I'd love to change that. I'd love to compete and I'd love to feel the atmosphere of the crowd on a Sunday afternoon here driving an Irish player home; I would love that to be me. I would love to experience that. No doubt, it's right up there for me. Of course, winning more majors, it's probably my No. 1 priority as far as what I would most love to achieve in my career; winning premiere events and events like The Irish Open, is probably my second priority for sure. There's no doubt, I would dearly love to add this one to the schedule. Do we put more pressure on ourselves? Perhaps we do. Perhaps there's that extra bit of intensity on a week like this week and you have just got to learn to deal with that and try to get off to a good start on a course like this and hope to be there come the weekend. Q. Your record in The Irish Open not being what you'd hoped, and you mentioned pressure, do you think that's the main reason why you haven't played as well as you might have done? GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, pressure, and Guinness probably (laughter). It's always an enjoyable week, but it's pressure; the home fans and the added intensity of the build up to the week, and I know I'll play the Pro‑Am this afternoon and I'm expecting quite a lot of people out there and quite a lot of demands on my time. You maybe want it too bad. There's always that internal expectation level, internal pressure that you put yourself under. You know, like we alluded to, the field is not that strong this week. If I play well, I expect to compete. But the golf courses and conditions typically are tough. The two years we played here at Carton House were very difficult conditions. Portrush last year, the weather was pretty tricky. There's always extra elements that are involved in a week like this; a bit like an Open: You're never really sure what you're going to expect. I think the course setup this week is perfect. They really, really learned a lot from the two years we've been here and they have kept the right amount of rough. The greens are great surfaces, and it's a golf course which should set up well for me, because yes, you've got to drive it well. You don't necessarily have to drive it massive distances, because I think you can't really blow all the trouble out of play on this golf course, which is what I like. You've got to take bunkers on at all times and you've really got to position it well, as opposed to bomb it long, so it's a good setup. But I think that the added pressure of being an Irish player is the thing that holds us back a little bit. But certainly learning how to deal with that the last few years, it's gotten to the point where it's not pressure. I've gotten to the point where I kind of enjoy it and I will enjoy playing out in front of these great crowds the next four days. Q. What did you learn from your two rounds at Merion that you think will help you moving forward? GRAEME McDOWELL: I learned a certain amount of humility, that's for sure. That golf course was very humbling. What did I learn? I learned a lot about my preparation for both major championships this year. I felt like I over‑prepared for Augusta. I was physically not 100 per cent come Thursday, fatigued. Played a little too much golf in the preparation leading up to that. So I learned that my preparation for Augusta will be different next year. Merion, I didn't get my preparation right, either. I was under‑golfed going into Merion. Took 2 1/2 weeks off, missed the cut at Wentworth and took the next two weeks off, so was competitively not sharp enough going into Merion. Played the golf course the Wednesday previous. Really felt like I had got my homework done. Plan was to fly in Monday lunchtime and play 18 holes late afternoon on Monday at Merion. Flew into a downpour. I attempted to hit golf balls in the pouring rain that Monday afternoon. My preparation ended up, I ended up being under‑prepared for Merion. Augusta was my fault; Merion wasn't my fault. It was the weather construed against me and affected my preparation heavily. I needed some course time and I didn't get course time, and ended up playing nine holes on Tuesday and nine holes on Wednesday.  The golf course was so wet; it was very difficult to get yourself prepared. The facilities were so wet; it was difficult to get yourself prepared. Preparation is key at the Major Championships. If you look at the results this year, two guys, Justin Rose, arrived on Tuesday night at Merion and Phil Mickelson arrived on Thursday morning. I think that's very telling from the type of U.S. Open that Merion was. I guess I'm always learning about preparation. That's the thing I take way most from Merion is how key preparation is and how tough it is to get that just right. I mean, the end of the day, unless you're standing there with a trophy on Sunday night, you can say that maybe you didn't get your prep right. But it's all about being as ready as you possibly can. Like I say, Merion I was under‑prepared and under‑golfed and not ready and the golf course just exposed me. It was a very, very difficult test. Q. You were talking about trying to create swings of different tournaments. Do you think there ever could be a position where they could get three decent swings and stop the mass migration of European golfers to America? GRAEME McDOWELL: I think that's the key. We sat down briefly at Wentworth, ten, 15 players, ten, 15 top players, and we started to talk about how we do it, how we put together a swing.  You look at the PGA TOUR, the way they collect their events together with your West Coast and your Floridas and your Texas swings and these little kind of geographical bundles that they put together. I think we have to capitalise on the key parts of our schedule in and around Wentworth, in and around The Open and after the FedEx Playoffs. I think those are our very keyareas in the schedule that are important, and maybe even add the Desert Swing in January to that. I think you look at those four areas of the schedule, The Desert Swing is probably not financially lucrative enough outside of appearance monies that we all know that attract the big names to the Abu Dhabis of the world the last few years. That alone is not good enough. You need purses to match that and to attract a world‑class field. Wentworth is a phenomenal tournament, but it's a one‑week kind of stint in Europe. Obviously I played the Volvo World Match Play the last three years and I've enjoyed that immensely. That's a key part of the season where we have our top players in Europe, and you could definitely get them to play two or three events around then. Obviously The Open, to me, no disrespect to the Scottish Open, I won it in 2008; I love that event. It's lost its prestige. Aberdeen Asset Management have come in there and really tried to boost it. Castle Stuart probably has not been a strong enough golf course the last couple years. Let's see them get the Scottish Open on a phenomenal links golf course with a great purse and get a world‑class field back there. You know, the week before and after The Open and that key stretch after the FedEx Playoffs, we need to be capitalising a little harder on those areas. That's kind of my feelings and a lot of the players' feelings, and I'm not going to sit here and be a hypocrite. I'm playing my minimum on The European Tour this year for the first time in my career. Not something I'm particularly proud of. I say minimum; I think I might play 14, in fact. On the PGA TOUR, I will play 16, 17 times over there. It's tough to compete against $7, $8million purses week‑in, week‑out. The European Tour is struggling, we know that, and as players we are trying to come up with a strategy to help combat that and really start getting some big, big events back on the schedule. Q. Can I just clarify one thing? You said 15, 16 players, was that at Wentworth or was that sort of unofficial? GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, that was an unofficial get‑together on the Tuesday night at Wentworth. I'm not going to name names or whatever. It was really just an unofficial sit‑down and a little bit of a brain dump, really, from some players. Most of those guys are dual members, as in European Tour and PGA TOUR and just trying to come up with better dates on the schedule that will fit everyone where we can attract and really just strategies to come back and support not just their National Opens. Me being here this week is a given. It goes into the schedule right beside the four Majors and the four WGCs. The Irish Open is in the schedule right away and the rest of my schedule fits in around that, so National Opens are a given for guys supporting those. It's really just above and beyond where we are going to try and how we are going to get the players to come play. Q. There was a lot of talk about Rory McIlroy and his golfing DNA and what makes him tick, but when did you become comfortable in your own skin with what makes you tick? Was there a particular tournament or a moment or was it just a gradual process? GRAEME McDOWELL: I think I've had moments in my career‑‑ I've had several moments like that in my career where you kind of notch up to the next level, if you like, and you have a period of acclimatisation. I've always experienced that in my career. It's always taken me‑‑ it's taken me sort of less time as I've gone on. I think the most recent of those was obviously 2011 where I was Top‑10 player in the world and Major Champion and all these things and really wasn't performing and was putting a huge amount of pressure on myself to perform, and I really wasn't comfortable in my own skin. It took me a little bit of time to get the hang of that; what clicks. You don't just wake up one day and go, right, okay, I'm ready to be that guy now. It's more just a learning process where you learn from mistakes and you learn about scheduling and about time management and about how much or how little you need to be doing on the course and off the course. I can't imagine what Rory has gone through this year. He's notched up‑‑ it's tough to imagine that he can notch up the level from last year, what he was doing on the golf course was phenomenal last year. His profile has definitely notched up a level this year and he's now one of the most recognised athletes in the world, tossed in there with the Tiger Woods and Federers and Nadal s and all of these amazing Nike athletes that we read about week‑in and week‑out. It's a lot to deal with for a young lad from Belfast, Northern Ireland who is at the end of the day just a normal kid. It's a lot to deal with in that head, even though he's a phenomenal golfer. This is not about the golf; it's about kind of the off‑course life, and there's a period of acclimatisation. He's incredibly good at it, let's be honest. He's taken it in stride, and you know, how many events has he played this year, ten, 12? It's been a short period of time. And like I say, I think his game is very close to being back to his best. First seven or eight holes at Wentworth on Thursday, I thought, here we go, he's back. He pretty much took the flags out of the ground, and I think he's close to playing well and I'm sure it won't be long before we see him back to his best. Q. Was it in Crans that you realised, maybe a moment to look at things‑‑ GRAEME McDOWELL: For sure, I certainly sympathise. Like I say, I can't really relate to who he is or what he is. He's on another level from me, a level that I'd like to experience some day in my life perhaps. But that moment you're talking about with me was in 2006, I'll never forget it. It was a pretty telling moment for me. I realised that I wasn't the guy that I knew I was, and it certainly flipped the switch inside my head that something had to change. I did see Rory, was it Sunday afternoon, when he did that on 11. I made two doubles on 11 in the tournament, as well, so I did sympathise with him. Q. You're talking about the swing at the start of the season and relating it to the British Open, The Scottish Open which you won, you're talking then getting the right venue for that tournament, and they are going to Royal Aberdeen next year. Are you talking about courses like Carnoustie, St. Andrews, Troon, being the right venue for a tournament like that? GRAEME McDOWELL: I feel bad that I'm singling out The Scottish Open. Like I say, I won The Scottish Open. I used to love the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond. Even though it wasn't ideal preparation for The Open Championship, Loch Lomond is a very unique venue. On a Sunday afternoon, there's nothing quite like those last three or four holes around the Loch. It was a phenomenal golf tournament. Taking it to Castle Stuart was a move designed to try and get it on a links golf course the week before The Open championship. Castle Stuart is a beautiful venue. Golf course was probably a little bit too wide open off the tee and a little bit too one‑dimensional really. Wasn't enough of a test pre The Open Championship. The year I played, in fairness, it was the year we got shortened to three rounds due to monsoons in Scotland; that happens often. Like I say, Aberdeen Asset Management really came in and tried to rescue the event, and Royal Aberdeen next year is a venue which attracts me. I'm already looking at that as a potential week that I'll play next year. Q. Have you played it? GRAEME McDOWELL: I've not played it but I've heard great things about it. I'm just talking about quality links golf courses, not saying that Castle Stuart isn't a quality links golf course, but it wouldn't be the first course that springs to mind when you think links golf in Scotland. Carnoustie, St. Andrews; the northeast, Dornoch, and these amazing, amazing golf courses. And Royal Aberdeen, like I say, is one that kind of piques my interest. I just think that there's an opportunity to have a big‑money event the week before The Open Championship on a quality links golf course, whether that be in Ireland or whether that be in Scotland. It's a great opportunity to have a world‑class, talking international, American, European field put together, WGC‑style, on an amazing links golf course. I think it's a no‑brainer. Like I say, The Scottish Open, it's lost its identity. It had its identity when it was at Loch Lomond. I think we are in a little bit of a period of rediscovery, and like I say, Aberdeen Asset Management are doing a great job and Royal Aberdeen could really re‑light the event. I'm looking forward to hopefully playing that one next year. Q. You talked about preparation and getting it right. What are you going to do the week before Muirfield and have you been to Muirfield before? GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, I've never played Muirfield. Going to be there the Wednesday of the week before. Probably play 27 holes and get in there kind of Monday night of the event. It's always a busy week, The Open. Course time can be sort of physically demanding, fans and autographs, etc. We have all talked about that, six‑ and seven‑hour rounds are kind of tough to ask Tuesday and Wednesday. So I'll get my prep done the Wednesday before, weather depending, and get in there kind of Monday night with a view to play 27 more holes, maybe, before the Thursday. So that's kind of my prep. Looking forward to it. I'll spend a weekend in Portrush before the tournament. Play a little links golf, maybe get to County Down and just sort of hone my links skills a little bit after seeing the golf course on Wednesday. Never played Muirfield. Like I say, heard it's the best sort of golf course of the whole rotation and very, very excited to go there. From what I hear, thick rough, deep bunkers, really positional off the tee, a bit like Lytham. I think I'll like it. That's kind of my prep with some good competitive golf coming up here, play this week, play next week. I've got some sponsor activities Monday, Tuesday, so I'll play Muirfield Wednesday. So I'll only have half a week off to be honest before The Open. So making sure I'm going in there with the right balance of competitive sharpness and hopefully physical freshness. That's kind of the goal. Q. When we spoke to you in Bulgaria after your victory, you said one of the biggest problems with the U.S. Open was your levels of expectation; was that also an issue that you were really fancying your chances at Merion going in? GRAEME McDOWELL: I don't think so. I don't think so. Merion won't a result of over‑expecting. I really don't think so. It was a result of being technically a little off and being just not competitively sharp. I was under‑golfed, I really believed that. I didn't hit it great in practise. I knew I wasn't 100 per cent ready and it was very hard to do anything about it. That Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday‑‑ I flew in there Monday afternoon knowing that I had needed some course time, with a plan to play 18 holes Monday afternoon. It was kind of too late before I realised that my preparation was going to be in trouble. There's no doubt, I mean, it was a lot of fun to go into Merion. Probably never been as highly‑favoured for a Major Championship as I was going in there. It was flattering, and certainly a new experience for me. But I certainly don't put that down as one of the reasons why I didn't play well. You know, I played alongside Jim Furyk and Zach Johnson, who from a bookies' point of view, one of us had to compete that weekend. It was kind of a perfect golf course for us ‑‑ it maybe was a good golf course for us until it got wet. And when it got wet, it got long. It was an incredibly long golf course. Very few medium irons on that golf course. I felt like I was either hitting 3‑woods, 5‑woods, 3‑irons or I was hitting wedges. There was no in‑between there. It was a tough test of golf. Between the three of us, I think we were about 45‑over, which is just incredible. It was just an amazing, humbling experience, and not one that I want to experience again too soon. It just really made me acutely aware of how important prep is and sometimes it's not going to be perfect. Phil flying in on Thursday morning I remember laughing and giggling to myself going, what is he doing, but proved us all wrong. It just showed that you didn't really need to be there that first few days of that week. It was just impossible from a preparation point of view and perhaps practising on the West Coast and flying in for your tee time is the way to go now. It was a very unique week. Like I say, Justin getting in on Tuesday night and Phil getting in Thursday morning, finishing one, two, it kind of throws preparation, flips it upside‑down doesn't it. Always learning. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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