G-Mac California dreaming again

Graeme McDowell on the phone on the ninth at the Olympic Club. Photo Eoin Clarke/www.golffile.ieGraeme McDowell will be drawing on fond memories of his Pebble Beach triumph when he tees it up in his seventh US Open at the Olympic Club on Thursday.

While it appears that the Portrush ace has leapt out of the frying pan and into the fire by following his third missed cut from his last four starts in Memphis on Friday with the trip to the toughest US Open track in recent memory, he insists that he’s feeling good about his chances of making a run at a second major crown.

“I’m here feeling good,” McDowell beamed after a weekend in San Francisco. “California has been a good state for me.”

McDowell captured the 2010 US Open just down the road at Pebble Beach and then returned to the Golden State the following December to deny Tiger Woods in a play-off for the Target World Challenge.

“The air feels the same, it’s got that ocean breeze feel to it,” McDowell said of Olympic Club’s salty air.

The 7,170 yard par 70 track features an opening six-hole stretch that USGA Executive director has described as being “beyond brutal.”

Yet McDowell, who is adamant that he’s playing far better than his recent results suggest, reckons the venue will suit him.

“To me it seems like a left to right player’s set up and I like the way it sets up for me so far,” he said. “The greens are maybe the best greens I’ve seen in a very long time. They roll perfectly.”

Despite the tough start, McDowell reckons the last three holes featuring back-to-back par fives and a 344-yard 18th - will give the field a chance to regain lost ground.

“It’s not the most intimidating US Open finish ever,” McDowell said. “I’d give my left arm for a one-shot lead playing the 17th. You’d fancy your chances. It’s not like trying to close it out at Oakmont or Winged Foot, where you’re really trying to get the job done.”

Yet after watching his wedge to the 18th hit a cypress tree end up in deep rough, he added: “Someone will make a real mess of 18. I’m predicting that right now.”