"We have to look at the big picture" - COVID-19 puts golf in perspective for McDowell
Graeme McDowell tees off on the fourth hole during the second round at the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif. on Friday, June 14, 2019. (Copyright USGA/JD Cuban)
Graeme McDowell knows that the Majors, the Ryder Cup and the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open fade into insignificance compared to the devastation caused by the coronavirus epidemic.
But as he tries to keep his extended family safe, his spirits up and his game ticking over in Orlando where his restaurants have shuttered due to COVID-19, the Portrush native knows that golf's burning questions must remain unanswered for a little while longer.
Thanks to his early-season win in Saudi Arabia and his return to the world's top 50, the Rathmore man (40) was set to forgo his defence of the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship this week to tee it up in the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play.
Instead, he’s puttering around Lake Nona and with no return date in sight, he's struggling to find his laser-like focus during golf's global shutdown.
But when asked if the Ryder Cup should go ahead as a post-COVID-19 boost for golf or be postponed for a year due to the compromised qualification process, he was razor-sharp and to the point.
"I think it comes down to prioritising the schedule," he said. "I can't imagine the jigsaw puzzle that the European Tour, the PGA Tour and the four majors have on their hands before we even start talking about Ryder Cups. It's a crazy puzzle.
"If we could be back to playing golf around June, perhaps you could argue that in June, July, August, September we have four solid months. With an adjustment to the qualification processes and maybe of weighting those four months a little higher than we would have, you could you pick two teams of 12 that could play up there at Whistling Straits.
"If that re-injects some adrenaline back into the game of golf if that is what it is going to need after this off time, then I would be fully supportive of it.
"But there are so many things that can change and so many things that have to happen that for me, the major championships take priority over the Ryder Cup.
"It's really only going to be a viable opportunity if the qualification process properly reflects the 12 best players from each team, and we are going to feel good about it. We are going to feel like the two teams are legitimate, and the tournament can stand."
“We are already talking about a reduced type staging if the Irish Open goes ahead at all”
Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell wait with their caddies on the 18th hole during a practice round at the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif. on Tuesday, June 11, 2019. (Copyright USGA/Michael Reaves)
The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, scheduled for Mount Juliet from May 28-31, is the next possible event on the European Tour schedule but McDowell, who is set to host the event for the next two years, admits that plans for a scaled-down tournament were already on the cards.
"We are already talking about a reduced type staging if the Irish Open goes ahead at all," McDowell confessed. "We just have to prepare the best we can, have a contingency plan if it looks like we can execute the tournament.
"If not, I will be extremely disappointed not to be able to host an Irish Open with the Open champion Shane Lowry, the number one player in the world in Rory McIlroy and the Ryder Cup captain Pádraig Harrington, Jon Rahm and others.
"It's a phenomenal opportunity, and I will be really disappointed if I don't get that opportunity, but there are so many more important things right now than that, and we have to hope for the best and get the world back on its feet again keep people safe and worry about the Irish Open in due course."
To that end, battling to keep his restaurant businesses afloat has allowed him to forget about the frustration of not being able to capitalise on some of his best form in years.
"It gives me a real perspective and helps tunes me into how big this is financially and how big an impact this is going to have," he said. "We have two successful restaurant businesses going and all of a sudden you are thinking, will we be able to come out the other end successfully.
"We have about 70 employees in both restaurants and it gives me perspective on what they are going through and the impact it has on their families and children.
"It puts my own employment in perspective as a professional sportsman. It's tough times for everyone right now, but we are trusting the powers that be to make the right decisions."
As for the effects of the enforced golfing lay-off, he admitted that like Rory McIlroy, who he said "is riding an unbelievable wave", the upturn in his game felt bittersweet just now with a potential Olympic Games appearance now pushed back to 2021.
Graeme McDowell waves to the gallery on the third hole during the third round at the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif. on Saturday, June 15, 2019. (Copyright USGA/Chris Keane)
"We have to look at the big picture and realise that it is slightly irrelevant and insignificant compared to what we are all going through," he said.
"I am finding focus difficult right now because the unknown is so difficult. Motivation is jumping out of bed in the morning with a target or a goal in mind. But it is difficult to think about those goals when you have no idea when you are going to tee it up again."
The Masters is the least of his worries but having made the world's top 50 in 49th place now that the world rankings have been frozen, he's hoping that he will get to play if it's rescheduled for later this year.
"I'd be very happy if the Masters are going to honour the current qualification for their tournament if it was to be held two weeks from now," he said. "But there are so many ifs and bits. Will the Masters be played? When will it be played? It's nice to be in that top 50 right now, but when I look at in real terms, The Players and the WGC Match Play were events that had to be played before the cut off which was the Monday after the WGC. There was a certain intangibility for me. I had to go and perform one of those two weeks to guarantee my place and didn't get the opportunity to do so.
"Had the rankings continued for several days, with the shuffle and points dropping off, I was lucky to slip into the top 50. If we had continued to play golf, would I have earned my position? Maybe I wouldn't have.
"Selfishly, hopefully, they acknowledge the rankings are we sit when it comes time to play the Masters if we get the chance to. But there are so many bigger picture things that need to happen between now and then. It's a waiting game and a dynamic situation."
Having surged back to form, the coronavirus epidemic has put his career on hold at a delicate time but he knows that millions around the world face far greater frustrations.
“It's insignificant, but we also have things we want to achieve in the game and for a guy in his forties, with the clock ticking more than for other guys, I am trying to get back on the golf course and continue the momentum that I am building up,” he said, admitting he’d called coach Kevin Kirk about tentatively scheduling some coaching practice.
While the postponement of the Olympic Games came as no surprise to him, he admitted he felt disappointment having failed to make it to Rio in 2016.
“The Olympics is the jewel in the crown in most sports, taking nothing away from what it means in golf. With the four majors, the Olympics is really starting to cut its own place in the game of golf,” he said. “Personally speaking, I was really excited about having the opportunity to be in Tokoyo this year for the Olympics having not played in Rio. Certainly pangs of regret from my own point of view, not taking that opportunity to be an Olympic athlete. I was certainly going to jump at the chance again. “
