News about Graeme McDowell

The Daily Mail's Tom Chesshyre visits the small town of Portrush in County Antrim, which lies amid 'rugged cliffs, ­towering dunes and sweeping beaches'. There is a world-class golf course, too, along with bizarre rock formations and a medieval castle. Read on for more...

Golf star Graeme McDowell has been suspended by Saudi-backed LIV Golf for violating the organisation's anti-doping policy during LIV Golf Nashville. In his post, McDowell explained that the reason for his ban was his use of a 'generic' Vicks nasal spray, which is typically used for stuffy noses and has reportedly contained a prohibited substance, R-methamphetamine (levo-methamphetamine).

DOMINIC KING AT WEST LANCASHIRE GOLF CLUB: Sergio Garcia's dream of playing in his 100th Major is temporarily over as he bemoaned a row that pockmarked his attempt to qualify for Troon. The Spaniard was involved in a heated discussion with tournament officials during his first round of the 36-hole competition on Merseyside. He ended up failing by two shots to secure one of the four places there were up for grabs. Having been followed by a crowd of more than 1500 from the moment he took his first tee shot, Garcia showed flashes of brilliance particularly at the end of his opening 18 holes when finishing birdie-par-birdie.

It's the friendship that annodes you every time. You can almost feel the connection between horse and human from the moment you step into a yard. Lara Hegarty, for example, has followed the mighty Istabraq for the past seven years at JP McManus' Martinstown Stud. She confesses to putting more faith into the rugs as the biggest hurdler of all-time wears than her own wardrobe, and she adores this old gelding unconditionally. It's the same as Adam Connolly, the groom of Galopin Des Champs. He's spent so much time with the powerhouse that he knows his quirks, which include the dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, standing with his head over his stable door, enjoying the birds perched on the roof of the adjoining barn.

DOMINIC KING AT KEMPTON PARK: McDowell has mastered the art of remaining calm when the stakes are high on a golf course, especially as a Major Champion and Ryder Cup champion. Among a throng of punters on a racecourse, however, he was just like everybody else: lost in the moment, hoping his vocal urgings would make a difference. 'It's a bit of a drug, isn't it?' McDowell gasphed. 'I can see why people adore (racing) so much.' I can tell you that my heart was racing harder than it had raced in a long time.'

Weekend golfers around the country play it all the time; we've come up with a make-believe scenario that might bring a little extra pressure to a mate's putt or chip. 'Sink it to win the Open' or 'to lift the Ryder Cup' they say with the outcome deciding who pays at the 19th hole! The stakes were even higher when Harry Derham, his father, were arrested, but the proof that he rose gracefully to the occasion is on display in Kempton's Adonis Juvenile Hurdle today.

Brooks Koepka and Graeme McDowell, two golfers, will fly into Kempton later this month, hoping to see their horse Givemefive book their position at the Cheltenham Festival when he competes in the Adonis Hurdle. McDowell, the 2010 US Open champion and five-time major winner, and Koepka, the track's two-time hurdle champion, will be named on February 24. Since being bought out of Johnny Murtagh's Irish stable, Givemefive has defeated hurdles at Market Rasen and Warwick.

AT WARWICK: KINGDOMICIUS is the subject of a lot of attention. Graeme McDowell and Brooks Koepka, two golfers, could be up for another big win - this time in horse racing. Both founders of the highly rated Givemefive, who is set to face JCB Trumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March. Harry Derham's debut at Market Rasen last month was a hit, and he continued his good play at Warwick on Monday.

When he turned up for the first day of play at LIV's Washington, DC course on Friday morning, Donald Trump lauded Saudi Arabia's impact on the game of golf. Last year, the former president hosted a tournament at Bedminster, Saudi-backed breakaway tour, and now has three courses on the circuit, with DC and Miami having signed up. On Thursday, Trump appeared in a practice round with Patrick Reed, Graeme McDowell, his son Eric, and Bob Koepka, the son of PGA Championship champion Brooks, and was back a few hours later to watch the pros play.

Sergio Garcia will start in Texas for the first time since turning pro, and he's hoping to avoid missing out on back-to-back majors. The Spaniard leads a list of 22 LIV Golf rebels, including former champion Graeme McDowell, who will tee it up in a 36-hole shoot-out in Dallas next month for coveted spots at the US Open in Los Angeles. Garcia skipped out on qualifying for the US PGA Championship this week, the first time he had failed to qualify for a major since 1999. He missed the only major sporting event in the last 24 years - the 2020 Masters - because he had Covid.

Any European golfers who have participated in the turbulent LIV Golf series, according to Sir Nick Faldo, will never play in the Ryder Cup again - whether players or future captains. Since being established last year and sparking significant discussion, the Saudi-backed competition has sparked a long civil war in the sport. Many well-known golfers who participated in various European tournaments over recent years have competed in the breakaway tournament, including Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, and Graeme McDowell.

LIV Golf will begin its second season at El Camaleon in Mayakoba, Mexico, at the end of February, before heading to Australia, Singapore, and Spain. The Mexican resort is the latest to jump ship from the PGA Tour as the Saudi-backed breakaway has once more swooned in to steal a prized asset from Jay Monahan and Co. This month marks the PGA Tour's 16th trip to El Camaleon Golf Club in the south of Cancun, but it will be its last round.

Dustin Johnson's team is expected to bring another seven-figure check to LIV Golf after his team's winless championship in the Saudi-backed tournament. One of four squads of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf team championship finals on Sunday is Johnson and his 4Aces GC crew, with $16 million-$4 million for each of the four players - awaiting the winning roster in the season-ending tournament at Trump National Doral. Johnson's crew won by beating Cleeks GC 2-1 on Saturday, with the winning point coming when Pat Perez and Talor Gooch played off Graeme McDowell and Richard Bland in extra holes.

BY RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: It's for this reason and others that Graeme McDowell is a golfer worth watching as this tumultuous new circuit reaches its final weekend of the first season. Many of those 69 who passed over to speak only in general terms about the decisions they made have a tendency. McDowell is seen as something of a rebel within the rebels.

In an interview this week about McIlroy's former European colleagues, including Poulter, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell, and Sergio Garcia, who all lost their future in the biennial fixture by cashing in with the Saudi-backed circuit. Although a number of those players, including Poulter, have aspired to force their way back into the game through legislative manoeuvres, McIlroy, the ardent LIV critic, told the Guardian: "I think it's the first time I've felt betrayed in my life." To me, it's a strange sensation. "You build friendships with these people through Ryder Cups and other activities."

Rory McIlroy has revealed that he was "betrayed" by the decision of some of his former Ryder Cup teammates to join the LIV Golf team. Due to their LIV affiliation, Graeme McDowell (bottom left), Sergio Garcia (top right), Ian Poulter, and Lee Westwood all appear to have been barred from the Ryder Cup. People who he has formed bonds with in the past are in danger of being part of the Ryder Cup again, according to McIlroy in an interview with the Guardian.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Patrick Reed (pictured) was chatting with a few of us after his 63-year-old uncle gave him the tour's Wentworth headquarters, but he hasn't returned so kindly to his new place of work. It was unclear how the golfing world would react if one of the LIV crew, himself included, won a DP World Tour event, such as the BMW PGA Championships, which was playing out behind us. The American replied after a brief moment of reflection: 'I'm sure there will be some kind of media s*** storm,' is the only way to express it.' Shane Lowry, an Irishman, was eventually victorious.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI AT WENTWORTH: despite the darkness in the skies and the wider golfing atmosphere, Tommy Fleetwood returned to the course in a different way after his mother's death. The world No. 29, who was playing in the worst weather in seven weeks, suffered through the worst of the storms for the first time in seven weeks, but the BMW PGA Championships featured the best of first rounds. Matthew Jordan, the third Englishman to shoot down an eight-under loop of 64 holes, led by a six-bird rally in his final seven holes, putting him in a share of the lead with Andy Sullivan and Norway's Viktor Hovland. In the DP World Tour's flagship event, Rory McIlroy was one of a group of four people.

Martin Kaymer, a LIV Golf defector, has stated that he does not feel confident teeing it up at the BMW PGA Championship next week in the midst of escalating tensions between the rebel tour players and the DP World Tour faithfuls. The German, 37, was one of 19 LIV Golf participants in the DP World Tour's, formerly the European Tour's, flagship event in Surrey, England. However, the two-time major champion has decided not to participate in the tournament because he insisted he does not want to play somewhere he does not like.'

The LIV Golf defectors who hadn't turned in their tour cards were denied entry into the PGA Tour, and those that didn't intend to play on the PGA Tour were banned. The PGA Tour's new season is set to begin in two weeks' time on September 15, but Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau's likes will not be allowed to tee it up. Players who hadn't resigned when leaving LIV, such as Mickelson, DeChambeau, and Pat Perez, were told that their memberships had been suspended for the 2022-23 season.

Many from the LIV Golf tour have been asked to keep their branding at home. In an email sent on Tuesday, DP tour officials asked LIV Golfers to refrain from wearing LIV logos on their clothing, ahead of the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England. The ESPN memo advised the nearly 20 LIV Golfers scheduled to compete in the event that they "will not be permitted to play in the Wednesday Pro-Am and out of respect for our sponsors, our journalists, and your fellow players, we would kindly ask you not to wear LIV Golf-branded clothing during your participation."

Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and Bubba Watson have left for the Saudi-backed tournament, with the PGA banning anyone who wishes to play in LIV. The DP World Tour hasn't followed suit, since the former European tour's bylaws did not provide for the same punishment, which means McIlroy will compete with 18 LIV members at the BMW PGA Championship.

According to a draft contract to play for Saudi-funded LIV Golf, players must be able to recruit other players to the league and to obtain permission before giving exclusive interviews. According to a Wall Street Journal article, it looked at a draft contract that LIV Golf has offered players, noting that terms in the contract are fixed or can be altered. Players must wear LIV Golf branding at every golf tournament they'participate in anywhere in the world,' according to the draft, who is also responsible for promoting the rebel tour at the majors.

Cameron Smith (pictured left) will announce his resignation to the rebel LIV series tour in a fortnight, putting an end to all speculation. According to MIKE COLMAN, there are 140 million reasons why. John Ribot (pictured inset) compared the golf tug-of-war to the ARL split tournaments in 1997, which ripped the game in two. Ribot predicts that the LIV tour and PGA tour will eventually be on the same page, since the two organizations will not continue competing in opposition to one another for the first time. Smith's looming defection is a big blow to the LIV series tour, where fellow Aussie Greg Norman is the CEO.