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Graeme McDowell on what went wrong in his Irish Open round

While Shane Lowry was quietly satisfied with his Irish Open opening round, Graeme McDowell didn't...



Videos

Graeme McDowell on what went wrong in his Irish Open round

While Shane Lowry was quietly satisfied with his Irish Open opening round, Graeme McDowell didn't fare quite as well.

The Antrim native shot a 2-over par 72 which leaves him well off the pace in Lahinch.

After his round, he told Nathan Murphy where it went wrong for him.

"Frustration... I'm not sure it's the right word. It was more just kind of [I] couldn't get anything going," he said.

"I couldn't get any momentum going. I felt that even my good tee shots out there finished a yard on the semi.

Nice Swings

"And the semi's kind of thick. It looks like it's going to jump from the semi and sometimes it doesn't. So it was hard to control my iron play well, even though I did make some nice swings.

"I don't think I had a birdie putt inside 10 feet all day which was tough on a golf course which you know is there for the taking a little bit."

McDowell pointed to the 12th as a major setback. The 2010 US Open winner bogeyed that Par 5 hole.

"Twelve was a killer blow really. It was playing straight down the wind today," he said.

"I flared my drive and caught an awful lie and ended up missing a short one for par.

"So that really derailed my comeback a little bit on that back-nine. It's not alarm bells. I don't have to go rebuild anything this afternoon.

"It's just a case of sharpening some stuff up and I'm looking forward to getting back out into this great atmosphere tomorrow."

But he also spoke of his optimism that he can get back into it "with a couple of decent scores".

And he also added that he's enjoying returning the Irish Open regardless of his performance.

"As I get older, I probably enjoy it more than I did when I was a bit younger," he said.

"I used to think it was quite intimidating and pressure-packed. But I enjoy being back here. The fans really appreciate everything we do in golf."

You can watch Graeme McDowell's full reaction above as well as Shane Lowry's.

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Golf Graeme McDowell Irish Open Lahinch Nathan Murphy Off The Ball Sport