How golf star Graeme McDowell has battled back from career adversity

Brian Sozzi
·Executive Editor

Graeme McDowell feels good to be back in the mix every weekend on the PGA Tour. But he acknowledges that it has taken some fine tuning of his life to make it happen.

McDowell told Yahoo Finance on the sidelines of the Northern Trust Open — the kickoff event to the FedEx Cup championship — that he had lost some focus amid executing on various business interests (he has interests in two restaurants in Florida) and enjoying family life (he has three children). “I lost some of that focus and work ethic,” McDowell concedes.

McDowell, 40, says that he has re-dedicated to the sport he loves and is looking forward to getting back more consistently into the winner’s circle. “I have dug back in more,” McDowell acknowledges.

The 2010 U.S. Open champ and four-time winner on the PGA Tour had a challenging 2018, one that dropped him to a surprising 257 in the world golf ranking at one point. That’s a steep fall for the tenacious, often very consistent major championship winner from Northern Ireland.

McDowell’s renewed focus has paid dividends this year.

He has climbed back to 100 in the world golf ranking and currently sits in 54th place in the FedEx Cup standings. McDowell notched a win back in March, his first worldwide since 2015. And to top it off, he made the cut at this year’s Open Championship held in his hometown of Northern Ireland.

“It was a dream week on many levels,” McDowell says.

Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and co-host of The First Trade at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @BrianSozzi

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