After flying the approximately 141⁄2 hours from Ireland to Hawaii, Graeme McDowell might have been the only one on his flight who wasn’t upset about the weather that greeted him on his arrival.
The 2010 U.S. Open champion said he was right at home in another four days of rain, wind and gray skies at water-logged Waialae Country Club and it showed on Sunday.
McDowell ripped off five straight birdies to close his front nine and matched the best round of the tournament with a 6-under 64 to move up 19 spots into a tie for fourth in his second appearance at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
After kicking the mud off his cleats one more time after exiting the scorer’s trailer, McDowell had a slight grin when asked if the round reminded him of growing up back home in Portrush, Northern Ireland.
“Certainly playing golf in bad weather is something that I did as a kid,” McDowell said. “You get a bit spoiled when you’re on the PGA Tour and you forget how to do it. Thankfully deep down inside of me I still know how to play in the wind and the bad weather.”
He certainly did that in the first half of his round. Teeing off 80 minutes before the final group, McDowell shot up the leaderboard with a birdie binge for the second day in a row.
He made seven straight 3s during his third round that started on the back with an eagle on No. 18 and birdies on three straight par-4s on the front.
An iron from 163 yards to 6 feet on No. 5 began his run on Sunday. He made 57 feet worth of birdie putts on Nos. 6, 7 and 8 and then another birdie on the par-5 ninth got him to 8 under and within three shots of the lead.
A three-putt on 11 with a miss from 3 feet gave him his only bogey of the round and kept him from really threatening for a trophy.
“I had a look at the scoreboard. I knew where I stood,” McDowell said. “But I also knew the conditions were a little easier today and that scoring was going to be pretty low.
“Three-putt on 11 really derailed me for a little bit. I had it going … hit a bad second putt.”
A mainstay on the European Tour, McDowell has won four times on the PGA Tour, including a win in the Dominican Republic last year that earned him a spot on Maui.
As was the case in 2016 when he played Maui after winning the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, McDowell decided to stay in the islands and play on Oahu the following week.
Now 40 years old, McDowell started working with a new coach in August and says he’s enjoying the game a bit more than he has.
The gloomy conditions didn’t take away from his time in Hawaii.
“In a funny way it suited me just fine,” McDowell said. “This is only my second time here so obviously it reinforces my want to come back again. I look at the guys who win here and I know this is a golf course for me.”
McDowell’s 67-64 finish was much better than his first time when he missed the cut after shooting 3 over.
For a tournament always in need of big names, a former major champion wouldn’t be a bad yearly addition to the field.
“I came here four years ago and I missed the cut and I walked away with my tail between my legs,” McDowell said. “This week I started to see the place a bit better. I look forward to coming back again. It’s a long way to come but it’s Hawaii and it’s beautiful and you get rewarded for the journey.”
