McDowell Wins U.S. Open at Pebble Beach

By Tom LaMarre

There should have been no surprise that an Irishman won the U.S. Open on the greatest links course in the United States, because there are those who believe links golf in Ireland is the best on the world, no offense to Scotland.
However, it wasn’t Padraig Harrington or Rory McIlroy, but Graeme McDowell who was the last man standing in the U.S. Open, finishing one stroke ahead of unheralded Gregory Havret of France.
McDowell, an accomplished player on the European Tour who also won in his previous outing at the Celtic Manor Wales Open, claimed his first major with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els breathing down his neck.
“It’s a pretty surreal feeling right now, I have to say,” said McDowell, who celebrated on the final green with his father, Kenny, and later that night at Brophy’s Tavern in Carmel. “It hasn’t really sunk in. I don’t think I’ve put (the trophy) down since they gave it to me.
“The U.S. Open has always been a tournament, if people asked me which major did I feel like my game is most suited to, I normally said the U.S. Open because I’ve always been pretty good off the tee, accuracy-wise.
“No disrespect to Gregory, he’s a great player, but when you have Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els obviously there, you’re not expecting Gregory Havret to be the guy you’ve got to fend off.”
Dustin Johnson, who captured the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am the last two years and took a three-stroke lead into the final round, opened the door for those chasing by going triple bogey-double bogey-bogey starting at the second hole and slid to an eventual tie for eight.
Nobody made a charge, but the Irishman held his ground.
McDowell, who is a lock to make his second Ryder Cup team for the matches in October at Celtic Manor, finished at 71-68-71-74–284, even par, and collected $1,350,000.
Havret, who holed a 50-foot putt to get into a playoff in U.S. Open qualifying and then sank a 20-foot birdie putt to earned his spot in the field, finished second at 73-71-69-72–285, followed by Els, the big South African, who came in at 73-68-72-73–286.
“You have to take you hat off to Graeme, as he played wonderful,” said Els, who was seeking his third U.S. Open title, but the first since 1997 at Congressional. “He played nice and steady.
“But you know, I wasn’t the only one who had chances. I played with Phil and he also had chances, as did Tiger and a lot of other guys. It came down to the end and I’m a little disappointed, but it was a good tournament.”
Woods and Mickelson, the California natives with a history at Pebble, were in the hunt almost to the finish but could not find the magic they had on other days on the Monterey Peninsula.
Mickelson, the Masters champion who was trying to win the U.S. Open for the first time after a record five runner-up finishes, wound up at 75-66-73-73–287, to tie for fourth with three-time Open champion Woods, who totaled 74-72-66-75–287.
“I had opportunities,” said Mickelson, a three-time champion at Pebble Beach who incredibly made no birdies in the first round and only one in the last, on the first hole. “I had a 15-foot eagle putt on No. 4, and I made par. That was frustrating. I have a five-iron into No. 6, and I make par. That was frustrating.
“But at the turn, I was still under par for my round, even par for the tournament, which was ultimately the winning score. All I had to do was shoot even par in the back, and I’m in a playoff. I wasn’t able to do it, obviously. It was tough.”
Woods, who captured the 2000 U.S. Open by a record 15 strokes and also won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am that year, turned the tournament on its ear when he shot 5-under-par 66 on Saturday, making birdies on the last three holes to give him five on the back nine and eight in all.
However, like Mickelson, he had none on Thursday and could not make enough happen in the final round, when he managed only two birdies. At least his game seems to be heading in the right direction even though his personal life seems to be in disarray after months of tabloid scandal.
“I told Steve (Williams, his caddie) we made three mental mistakes,” said Woods, who again fell short of his 15th major title. “The only thing it cost us was a chance to win the U.S. Open. You take away those three mental errors right there and I’m right there. I’m tied for the lead.
“I kept leaving myself in the wrong spots. Every time was above the hole. (In round three) I made everything because it was all below the hole. But below the hole it takes a lot of that break out, and the putts I had today that were below the hole, I made them.
“(But) I feel like I can play now. I got a feel for my game, my shape of my shots, what I’m working on. In the two major championships, I had a chance to win both of them. So it’s not too bad.”
John Mallinger of Escondido and Long Beach  State tied for 22nd at 77-72-70-74–293,
Ricky Barnes of Stockton and the University of Arizona tied for 27th at 72-76-74-72–294, Tom Watson, of Stanford and Kansas City, who won the 1982 Open at Pebble, tied for 29th at 78-71-70-76–295, and Ryan Moore of UNLV and Puyallup, Wash., tied for 33rd at 75-73-75-73–296.
Jason Allred of Pepperdine and Ashland, Ore., shot 72-73-76-77–298 to tie for 47th with Jason Gore of Valencia and Pepperdine, who wound up at 76-73-74-75–298, Erick Justesen Sacramento and Cal State Stanislaus finished 69th at 74-74-80-73–301, Matt Bettencourt of Alameda and Modesto Junior college tied for 70th at 72-74-77-79–302, and Nick Watney of Davis and Fresno State finished 76th at 76-71-77-81–305.
McDowell made only one birdie in the final round, at No. 6, to break a tie for the lead with Els. and played defense the rest of the way.
It was barely enough.
“I played in AT&T’s here and it’s been cold and nasty,” said McDowell, who became the first European to capture the U.S. since Tony Jacklin of England in 1970 at Hazeltine. “I thought we had a great week’s weather. I thought the golf course was well set up and the weather proved to be a really good test. And it was a lot of fun. I was proud of the way I handled myself this week.
“To win the U.S. Open here at Pebble Beach is a special feeling. I came here in 2001. I was a college player (at Alabama-Birmingham), and we were playing a golf tournament locally, and we came here to have a look around.
“We were in awe of the place. It reminded me of home quite a lot, the coast line and the ocean and just the beauty of it all.”
Now he will be linked with it forever.