G-Mac hopes to take-off after late touchdown

Graeme McDowell

Graeme McDowell is determined to ditch the excess baggage of his lost clubs nightmare and contend for a dream win in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

The Portrush star (38) was forced to "pull a rip cord" on Final Qualifying for The Open in Lancashire yesterday after his clubs went missing in transit from Paris to Manchester

But after spending “an immensely stressful 36 hours” waiting for them to arrive before pulling out of Final Qualifying at St Annes Old Links yesterday, he looks set to be reunited with his clubs in time for today’s pro-am.

Hopeful he can seal his place in The Open by winning one of three spots on offer at the Glashedy Links this week, he still defended his decision to pull out of Final Qualifying yesterday despite taking abuse on Twitter.

He said: “In hindsight, I should have flown private, or drove. But there was a perfectly timed flight heading from Paris to Manchester, I was trying to do the sensible thing.  

"Some people were upset that I didn’t try and qualify. If it had been my last chance saloon, if there weren’t three spots here this week for The Open and three next week in Scotland, of course I’d have tried to qualify. 

“But playing 36 holes with new clubs at a tricky course with just three places, I didn’t feel odds were in my favour."

McDowell headed out for a frantic nine-hole practice round yesterday afternoon using a borrowed set from the Srixon tour van.

He said: "I’ve a back-up driver. It’s in my set, which are in Paris. I use specific shafts, head weights, loft and lies, grips — a lot of moving parts. 

"Maybe I could have competed to a certain level, and it could have had a happy ending but the odds were against me. I had to pull the plug in favour of coming here and getting ready for the Irish Open. 

"People were lighting me up on Twitter last night, you expect that. A lot of people understood. I used Twitter to try and get help from Air France and to explain why I’d to pull a rip-cord on Open qualifying."

Insisting he can put it all behind him and focus on his first round date with defending champion Jon Rahm and Spain's Rafa Cabrera Bello, he added: "Yes, I can park it. I feel I’ve closed the book. Mentally, I’m in prepare mode for the Irish Open.

"I’m going to run out and play nine holes now. It’s been an immensely stressful 36 hours as I wanted to make a plan and couldn’t when you don’t know what’s going on. 

"I didn’t want to leave Manchester in case my clubs were on there way there. Eventually, I was able to get here and get the head right."

As for his date with Rahm tomorrow, he said: “I said last week I’d never played with him competitively before. 

“He’s a European stand-out, one of the best players in the world, so I’m very much looking forward to playing with him and Rafa Cabrera Bello on Thursday and Friday.”

Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Ballyliffin GC (Glashedy Links)

Tee times - Thursday (Friday)

1st tee (10th tee)

07:30 (12:30) M Foster (Eng), A Wu (Chn), P Oriol (Esp)
07:40 (12:40) J Dantorp (Swe), D Drysdale (Sco), J Morrison (Eng)
07:50 (12:50) H Sturehed (Swe), G Havret (Fra), C Hanson (Eng)
08:00 (13:00) A Saddier (Fra, A Chesters (Eng), P Khongwatmai (Tha)
08:10 (13:10) A Pavan (Ita), B Hebert (Fra), M Baldwin (Eng)
08:20 (13:20) L Canter (Eng), R Rock (Eng), D Horsey (Eng)
08:30 (13:30) J Scrivener (Aus), S Gallacher (Sco), O Fisher (Eng)
08:40 (13:40) S Brown (Eng), N Bertasio (Ita), M Fraser (Aus)
08:50 (13:50) P Hanson (Swe), S Hend (Aus), M Pavon (Fra)
09:00 (14:00) J Kruyswijk (RSA), B Stone (RSA), S Lee (Kor)
09:10 (14:10) S Horsfield (Eng), W Ormsby (Aus), R Gouveia (Por)
09:20 (14:20) N Geyger (Chi), C Ford (Eng), R Paratore (Ita)
09:30 (14:30) J Norris (Aus), R McGee (Irl), M Warren (Sco)

10th tee (1st tee)

07:30 (12:30) R Evans (Eng), F Zanotti (Par), M Kinhult (Swe)
07:40 (12:40) B Rumford (Aus), S Jamieson (Sco), M Southgate (Eng) 
07:50 (12:50) J Campillo (Esp), N Colsaerts (Bel), R Fox (Nzl)
08:00 (13:00) M Ilonen (Fin), A Otaegui (Esp), Y Miyazato (Jpn)
08:10 (13:10) A Sullivan (Eng), M Korhonen (Fin), D Frittelli (RSA)
08:20 (13:20) J Rahm (Esp), G McDowell (Nir), R Cabrera Bello (Esp)
08:30 (13:30) K Aphibarnrat (Tha), P Harrington (Irl), C Wood (Eng
08:40 (13:40) L Bjerregaard (Den), E Pepperell (Eng), J Donaldson (Wal)
08:50 (13:50) S Sharma (Ind), J Smith (Eng), S Kjeldsen (Den)
09:00 (14:00) J Choi (Kor), T Pulkkanen (Fin), C Pigem (Esp)
09:10 (14:10) A Quiros (Esp), E Molinari (Ita), E Van Rooyen (RSA)
09:20 (14:20) C McNamara (Irl), S Thornton (Irl), B Neil (Sco)
09:30 (14:30) M Lorenzo-vera (Fra), G Green (Mas), David Lipsky (USA)

1st tee (10th tee)

12:30 (07:30) P Waring (Eng), R Sterne (RSA), M Siem (Ger)
12:40 (07:40) P Larrazįbal (Esp), T Detry (Bel), L Slattery (Eng)
12:50 (07:50) G Moynihan (Irl), A Connelly (Can), D Burmester (RSA) 
13:00 (08:00) P Uihlein (USA), Haotong Li (Chn), J Suri (USA)
13:10 (08:10) P Dunne (Irl), M Wallace (Eng), A Levy (Fra)
13:20 (08:20) R McIlroy (Nir), M Fitzpatrick (Eng), T Olesen (Den)
13:30 (08:30) S Lowry (Irl), L Westwood (Eng), T Pieters (Bel)
13:40 (08:40) R Karlsson (Swe), R Knox (Sco), A Björk (Swe)
13:50 (08:50) D Clarke (Nir), T Bjorn (Den), D Willett (Eng) 
14:00 (09:00) P McGinley (Irl), T Jaidee (Tha), D Howell (Eng)
14:10 (09:10) SSP Chawrasia (Ind), G Fernandez - Castańo (Esp), G Coetzee (RSA)
14:20 (09:20) H Tanihara (Jpn), R Ramsay (Sco), S Fernandez (Esp)
14:30 (09:30) Z Lombard (RSA), R Jacquelin (Fra), F Aguilar (Chi)

10th tee (1st tee)

12:30 (07:30) D Brooks (Eng), S Gros (Fra), C Sharvin (Nir)
12:40 (07:40) O Farr (Wal), N O’Briain (Irl), J Winther (Den)
12:50 (07:50) J Lagergren (Swe), R Bland (Eng), A Dodt (Aus)
13:00 (08:00) A Romero (Arg), G Bourdy (Fra), J Wang (Kor)
13:10 (08:10) L Jensen (Den), C Paisley (Eng), R Wattel (Fra)
13:20 (08:20) M Nixon (Eng), N Elvira (Esp), D Fichardt (RSA) 
13:30 (08:30) T Aiken (RSA), M Manassero (Ita), B Dredge (Wal)
13:40 (08:40) D Im (USA). T Immelman (RSA), J Walters (RSA)
13:50 (08:50) C Syme (Sco), A Bland (Aus), C Shinkwin (Eng)
14:00 (09:00) C Sordet (Fra), S Brazel (Aus), C Moriarty (Irl)
14:10 (09:10) C Bezuidenhout (RSA), R Hyun Cho (Kor), H Porteous (RSA)
14:20 (09:20) J Guerrier (Fra), C Koepka (USA), M Schwab (Aut)
14:30 (09:30) L Gagli (Ita), A Rai (Eng), M Kieffer (Ger).