Graeme McDowell is set to return to the world's top 50 after a clinging on for an 11th European Tour victory in Saudi Arabia
Saudi International report: What happened at Royal Greens?
Graeme McDowell won his first European Tour title since 2014 as he finished with a two-shot lead over defending champion Dustin Johnson on 12-under.
The final round prompted a throwback to six years ago as he teed it up on the final day alongside Victor Dubuisson, just as he had at the 2014 Ryder Cup. Dubuisson, in a similar way to McDowell, has struggled in recent years for any sort of success but after returning to a decent level of form in 2019 and getting his 2020 off to a good start here, the future could be bright again for the Frenchman.
McDowell showed signs of a revival in 2019 and found plenty of good form which helped him to a much needed victory on the PGA Tour in the Dominican Republic and since then things have been looking up for the Northern Irishman.
A missed cut in Dubai was hardly the ideal start to 2020 but this result will do wonders for his confidence as well as providing a good platform for him to launch his bid for a spot on Padraig Harrington’s Ryder Cup team which he is determined to secure.
On Sunday in Saudi McDowell was certainly without his best stuff swing-wise but his considerable experience shone through as he was able to grind his way to a closing 70 and stay ahead of the chasing pack having begun the day with a one-shot advantage.
McDowell was two over for the day coming off the 13th green but back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 saw him take the pressure off coming down the stretch after Thomas Pieters had set a clubhouse target of 9-under.
Johnson played alongside Gavin Green in the penultimate group but despite a chip-in eagle and a birdie at the 18th respectively, neither player was really able to hole anything when it mattered on the final day.
Mark Townsend has taken a look at the ruling and has the full story.
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The talk of a breakaway golf tour known as the Premier Golf League has been ramped up in recent weeks and the PGA Tour were quick to contact their players about this matter.
Henrik Stenson revealed in Saudi Arabia that Keith Pelley and the European Tour followed suit and also sent out a similar message out to their members. This is what he said.
Joe Hughes
Tour editor covering men's golf, women's golf and anything else that involves the word golf, really. The talk is far better than the game, but the work has begun to change that.
