‘I want you out first on Sunday!’ – How Graeme McDowell led Europe out at Gleneagles
With everything Graeme McDowell has achieved in the Ryder Cup, Gleneagles is right up there for the Northern Irishman
The winning point at Celtic Manor. Playing in the ‘Miracle at Medinah’. Two amazing memories of the Ryder Cup, but it is Gleneagles that tops Graeme McDowell’s list.
Four years on from holing the winning putt on a damp Monday afternoon in South Wales, McDowell was one of the veterans of Paul McGinley’s European Ryder Cup team at Gleneagles.
The Northern Irishman, who won the 2010 US Open, says that his best moment at a Ryder Cup came when he led the team in the singles on the Sunday morning in Scotland.
“It would actually be leading Europe out at Gleneagles,” McDowell said. “On the first tee, Sunday singles, leading Europe out for the day, that was cool! That was a proud moment.
“Holing the putt on 17 to beat [Jordan] Spieth. Rory McIlroy was at the back of the green and we hugged it out. That was cool sh**!”
Imagine the nerves leading up to that tee shot, knowing you’re the one that has been tasked with leading out the European team.
How did McDowell find out he would be out first at Gleneagles?
“It was actually good stuff from [Paul] McGinley. Victor [Dubuisson] and I won on Friday afternoon,” he added.
“We won our Friday foursomes, Victor and I had teamed up beautifully and I assumed we were going back out Saturday morning.
“McGinley came to me and said ‘You’re not playing in the morning. I want you fresh for the foursomes, but more importantly, I want you fresh because I want you first out on Sunday!’
“It changed the way I felt about being dropped for Saturday morning because he gave me a purpose and that was great man to man management.
“Paul, obviously, was a very good captain and opens again the debate, should the guy who captains a Ryder Cup team be someone that has won six majors or should he someone who can lead a team.
“It is an honour and it should be. Ryder Cup legends should be Ryder Cup captains, but it doesn’t necessarily make them good leaders of men, though.”
When looking back over the entirety of his Ryder Cup career, which included four editions as a player and two as vice captain, McDowell says that 2014 was the one that meant the most.
“2014 was special. I played three times, I was more of a veteran and I was tasked with looking after a rookie in Victor,” he explained.
“He and I played foursomes, we played awesome. For the first time in my career, I was able to put my arm around somebody else and focus on them. I was able to take it in, look around and just think how f***ing cool it is.
“I got three points from three, beat Spieth in the singles. That was a great Ryder Cup.”
Everyone remembers what the Northern Irishman did in 2010.
He came up against Hunter Mahan in the singles, as he helped the European side win the Ryder Cup with THAT putt on the 17th hole at Celtic Manor.
It was the first time the competition had ever finished on a Monday, thanks to the incessant rain that plagued South Wales that weekend.
McDowell, who now plies his trade on the LIV Golf tour, admits that he can now look back on that final day with fondness, but at the time, he was unable to enjoy it.
“Like I said, Celtic Manor… It’s so hard to sit here and say to you that I enjoyed it and it was f***ing amazing,” he added.
“I was so nervous, and I could barely enjoy the thing in the moment. It wasn’t an enjoyable afternoon because the pressure was so intense, so it was very hard to enjoy it in the moment.
“When you are able to step back and look around and know that it’s cool, and how good things are that are happening around you.
“I look at the replays of that putt and it looks cool, but in the moment it was hard to enjoy. Looking back, it was epic, it was amazing to be a part of it and get the job done.”
Do you remember Graeme McDowell leading Europe out at the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles? What is your favourite Ryder Cup memory? Who do you think will win the 2023 Ryder Cup? Let us know with a post on X, formerly Twitter!
Matt Coles
Mention a European country, and Matt will tell you which resorts make the National Club Golfer Top 100s: European Resorts list. He might even throw in who designed the golf course and how many rooms the hotel has got at each one…
Matt got into the game of golf from a young age, following his old man to the local golf club. He fell for the sport, and now can’t seem to go a day without thinking about how to improve his game (Thanks Dad!). Matt has been a member of Howley Hall GC in Leeds since 2020, and is just about managing to maintain a single-figure handicap. He likes to remind people that he once broke 75, but won’t tell people that it was on a shortened course during the winter.
He moved to Leeds after graduating from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class Honours degree in Sports Journalism. Matt joined NCG after almost five years travelling the world with the Professional Squash Association, working on events in all four corners of the globe.
Matt currently plays a Cobra King LTDx driver and RadSpeed 3-wood. TaylorMade monopolise the rest of his bag, with a SIM UDI, M5 irons and both Milled Grind and HI-TOE wedges, along with a Monza Redline putter. He uses a Vice Pro Plus golf ball, because he’s a bit different…
Away from golf, Matt is a Manchester United fan, and a keen runner, having ran the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon (his first and possibly last), in May 2023.
