The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Graeme McDowell Ranked 11th In The World
7/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
July 19, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Fresh off his US Open championship crown on June 20 and a 23rd-place showing at the 2010 British Open last weekend, former UAB men's golfer Graeme McDowell has risen to No. 11 in the Official World Golf Rankings released Sunday night.
McDowell's climb up the world rankings has been swift and steady over the past four months.
Prior to the 2010 Masters on April 8-11, the two-time All-American at UAB was ranked 50th in the world. After claiming the 2010 Wales Open on June 6, McDowell rose to No. 37 in the world rankings. From there, he made his biggest leap up the rankings as a professional, rising 24 spots to No. 13 in the world following his 2010 US Open title.
After finishing in a share of 23rd at St. Andrews, alongside 14-time major winner Tiger Woods, McDowell has risen to No. 11 in the world and is rated as the No. 2 golfer in all of Europe, behind only fellow countryman Rory McIlroy (No. 7).
Following a well-deserved week off this week, McDowell is set to compete at the Irish Open (July 29-Aug. 1) before travelling back to the United States to compete at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (Aug. 5-8) and the PGA Championship (Aug. 12-15), the final major of the year, at Whistling Straits.
"I'm not going to do much this week, lay low and maybe hit the odd ball at Portrush, but I've a lot of rest planned to recharge the batteries," McDowell to the UK Press Association following his weekend at St. Andrews. "The Open was maybe a week too soon. I could have probably done with using those two weeks after Pebble a bit more wisely but you want to celebrate and enjoy yourself. I'm down from cloud nine to about cloud five. There was definitely a sense of coming down last week.
"I tried hard to focus but it was difficult. Maybe I'm lacking that killer edge, that grind. But I wouldn't change it for the world. I'm very much looking forward to the Irish Open at Killarney and then moving on to Firestone and then the US PGA."
