McDowell wins US Open

In the immediate aftermath of his victory at Pebble Beach in the US Open, Lee Westwood’s caddie – Billy Foster – gave the man from Royal Portrush a huge hug and said: “Does this mean there’s a party tonight?”

“You bet,” was the 30-year-old’s reply.

And what a party it was, continuing way into the early hours. This has been a long time coming; a very long time; not just in terms of McDowell’s own career, but in the lives of everyone involved in the European Tour.

McDowell is the first Brit since Paul Lawrie in 1999 to win a major championship. But, more importantly, he is the first man from these islands to win the US Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970 at Hazeltine, exactly 40 years ago.

Given Europe’s success in the Ryder Cup and in the other three majors (there have been 10 European victories in the Masters in that time, 11 Open wins by Europeans and one win in the USPGA Championship) it is quite extraordinary that no player from our continent has triumphed in the second major of the year for so long.

And what a performance it was. Trailing the American Dustin Johnson with a round to go, GMac always looked the man to beat, after Johnson went into meltdown mode on the front nine. An extraordinary lob-wedge at the 2nd  which went about a yard was one of many serious errors the man from Myrtle Beach made on the front nine, which saw him drop seven shots in the first seven holes and effectively take him out of the race.

And yet, even so, you thought some sort of challenge was bound to come from the chasing pack, given that it included Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els. Byut none of them managed to put sufficient pressure on McDowell, shooting 75, 73, 73 respectively, over what must be admitted was an incredibly tough test.

Indeed, the Irishman’s closest challenger at the end was the Frenchman, Gregory Havret; and but for a sloppy bogey on the penultimate hole, and a failed 8-foot birdie putt on the last, Havret could well have become the first Frenchman to win a major since Arnaud Massy’s Open triumph in 1907.

The moment Havret missed his birdie putt on the 18th, GMac – playing in the group behind him – decided to lay up on the par-5. Having hit a beautiful drive down the final hole, McDowell would have been forced to go for the dangerous green if the Frenchman had made his birdie. “I fancy the lay up,” he told his caddie Ken Comboy, who was trying to get him to hit a 2-iron.

His father was there at the end to see his victory – on Father’s Day. Ewen Murray reckoned that “all of Ireland” would be awake to see his win back home, even though it was 2.30 a.m. when his final short putt dropped. Yet more European success to add to the multitude of home victories this season means that things look increasingly good for Monty’s team in this autumn’s Ryder Cup. Let’s hope it’s not another 40 years before another European wins the second major of the year.