McDowell has “no regrets” about joining LIV but admits he "was potentially at the end of the road” before Smash move
LIV Golf Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan chats with Graeme McDowell of Smash GC before the second round of the LIV Golf Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Country Club on Friday, February 09, 2024 in Las Vegas, United States. (Photo by Doug DeFelice/LIV Golf)
Graeme McDowell insists he has "no regrets" about his move to LIV Golf and believes golf will eventually "come out the other side".
Speaking on LIV Golf's Fairway to Heaven podcast, the former US Open champion (44) talked about his difficult transition to 54-hole golf and his move from the Cleeks to Brooks Koepka's Smash team.
But when asked if he had any regrets about making the jump — enforced in many ways after he lost his PGA TOUR card — McDowell was clear.
"Certainly no regrets," he said. I don't have any personal regrets. I hate where the game is right now, and that's obviously not necessarily on me; that's just with the powers that be within the game of golf.
"I think ultimately we're going to come out the other side of this with the game of golf in great shape.
"I think in any business there's always disruption, inevitably there's going to be disruption. And I think LIV has been a very healthy disruptor to a sport that the business model was slightly wrong and I think things needed to change.
"Unfortunately, change can be painful, but I think we're through a lot of the pain now. There's no doubt it was difficult at the beginning, especially being one of the original guys who were involved in the original push if you like when we had to go against the grain a little bit.
“'It was hard. But as I sit here a third of the way through our third season with the personnel that we have on board now with the team and with the media product that we have, I think the momentum is really, really strong, and I feel ever more confident that it was the right decision to make.”
McDowell played poorly for his first two years with LIV Golf and was in danger of being ejected from the league before Koepka threw him a lifeline and invited him to play for team Smash,
"I am very happy with where I'm at; I love my schedule," he said. "The ability I have to play a very, very competitive schedule against some of the best players in the world which is what I always wanted to do and have as much time with my family as I do nowadays.
Graeme McDowell of Smash GC hits his shot from the 12th tee during the final round of the LIV Golf Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Country Club on Saturday, February 10, 2024 in Las Vegas, United States. (Photo by Doug DeFelice/LIV Golf)
"I don't think I'll play more than 18 or 19 times this year, which is a very light schedule for me. And there's no doubt that's been one of the tough transitions to make.
"I used to play between 25 and 30, and now, all of a sudden, you play 18 times a year, and you have to be more ready to play than I used to be.
"It used to be you could take a few weeks off and set yourself for three or four weeks schedule where week one might be a burner week where you might not be ready but you use it as a springboard to the second or third week.
"Whereas with LIV, you have to show up ready to go. And that's been one of the biggest transitions for me. It's taken me two or three seasons to figure that out, and how to put the foot on the accelerator from the first hole on Friday.
"LIV is way more aggressive, way more of a sprint than a marathon. So I've had to adjust my warm-ups with 54 guys on the range for the shotgun.
"But we've had a medium amount of success, and let's hope we can kick on this season. That's a long-winded way of saying I'm very comfortable where I'm at right now.
"I love the guys that I am with, I love the momentum that LIV has right now, and I think the future is bright."
As for that move to Smash and the possibility that his career was at an end, having finished 39th and 42nd in the LIV rankings in his first two years, he said: "I got myself in a little bit of a hole at the end of last season.
"I didn't play well enough and got myself into that free trade category. I wasn't automatic for '24 and was in that scary place of needing to be picked up by…. The Cleeks didn't see a future with me as a Cleek, so I was going into that trade window.
"When I started looking around and doing the math, looking at guys who were contracted and guys who had deals, I am thinking to myself, I could be on the chopping block here. I could be done. It was kind of scary a little bit.
"I wasn't ready to be done. I was starting to play well, starting to get the hang of LIV. I'd been talking to a couple of teams, but I had a really good conversation with Brooks at the Team Championship in Miami, and he said he may have a spot for me if things worked out.
"That was exciting but until he gave me the call and confirmed it, I was potentially at the end of the road with regards to my competitive golf career.
"I was looking to see what was going to be next, but in my heart, I knew I wasn't ready for that, and I wasn't ready to hang up the clubs yet.
"I felt like I had some competitive years left in me, and I am still motivated to play well.
"When I got the call, I could feel like a little switch was flicking inside me that I was going to be surrounded my the right type of players.
"We are going to be hard-working and highly motivated and that could be just what I need at this time of my career."
McDowell and his Smash team of Koepka, Talor Gooch and Jason Kokrak return to action next week in Miami, when Masters champion Jon Rahm will make his final preparations for the Masters.
