Graeme McDowell happy to be in with a shout
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Graeme McDowell sat back and surveyed the torrid Open scene after he made the cut on the mark at +4 and stated: “Get your money on me now!”
The Ulsterman was joking about his inconsistent 2013 form – he’s either won events or missed the cut by miles – but having sneaked into the weekend action at Muirfield he still reckons he is in with a shout.
“It’s not like me to make a cut, so I’m pretty happy with that – I only win when I make cuts! I am ecstatic to be here, it’s going to be a beautiful weekend and this golf course is going to get nothing but tougher and tougher,” he said after his level par 71.
“It’s tough to see the leaders getting beyond 4 or 5 under par – literally anything under par could win at this point. I’m 4 over and I’ll need to be targeting -4; 267 is realistic to have a shot.
“We saw how difficult it can be on Thursday; after today, I’d imagine they can sort of let the handbrake off and let the golf course accelerate away from us. It’ll be interesting to see what happens this weekend; I don’t expect the scoring to be much better.”
G-Mac said the greens were two feet slower on the stimp and had three birdies but was more pleased with his ball-striking, saying: “I worked with my coach Pete Cowen on Friday night and I had more control on my ball flight.”
G-Mac watched playing partner Tiger Woods hole a beauty on 18 for birdie to finish on -2 right in the hunt – and warned: “He was very, very impressive the last two days. He will not be far away the way he is playing. I asked his caddie Joe if there was a driver under that head-cover because it hasn’t even come close to seeing the light of day!
“The control he has in his irons, he hits shots that you’re supposed to hit; the way he is putting, exceptionally well; sometimes it’s hard not to stand back, watch and admire it.
“But it’s nice to be the only man in a two-ball who has won a major in the last five years! But the big key for me is to get into my zone and get focused on my game. I just need to putt better; knock in those 10, 15 footers and just get going.”
