All but one of the golden tickets to play in next week’s Masters tournament have been dispatched. So it is that those in the field for this week’s PGA Tour stop, the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, without an exemption have one last-gasp chance to earn a place in the field, with Graeme McDowell – finally showing form – and Pádraig Harrington among those eyeing that invite.
Not that it will be easily won, for the invitation will only be extended to the winner of the Texas Open (if not already exempt). Still, McDowell – who had endured a rather horrible time of it up to his tied-fourth finish in the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic – has finally discovered light at the end of the tunnel in where he is headed and can move on with a degree of confidence. Momentum, even.
McDowell bucked the trend on his season – which had seen him travel to the Caribbean state on the back of three successive missed cuts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Players and the Honda Classic – with his performance in the Corales, where he finished two shots adrift of winner Joel Dahmen and secured his first top-10 anywhere since winning the Saudi International some 14 months ago.
"It's great to feel disappointed with a top-10 because it's been a really, really tough three months this year. It's actually been a rough stretch since last June, since we came back after the break. I really haven't played the type of golf I know I'm capable of. It's been a tough run and this is really a light at the end of the tunnel, so it's really important than I frame this up the right way. This is massive progress," said McDowell, who ironically hit the "pause button" as he put it, in working with new coach Lucas Wald only a fortnight ago.
McDowell was keen to focus on “the bigger picture”, which is of contending again. “I’m back playing the kind of golf I know I can play. I’m going to San Antonio with a chance to compete in the golf tournament, which is what I believe I’m capable of . . . we know how important momentum is and how important confidence is in this sport.”
Of his reasoning for taking a break in working with Wald, McDowell explained: "He's a fantastic coach and a fantastic guy. I just feel like I'm maybe a little overcoached the last seven or eight months. If I'm being honest about it, I haven't really done a good job on owning things myself and I felt like I just needed to take a step away from technique and start, like Pete Cowan always says to me, just controlling the ball flight."
His tied-fourth finish – finishing bogey-bogey unfortunately – at least gave McDowell an upwards move in the world rankings, jumping from 128th to 111th.
McDowell is joined by Harrington in the field at San Antonio, with the 49-year-old Dubliner belying his age by playing in what will be his ninth tournament in 11 weeks, his hectic stint starting in Abu Dhabi back in January and also encompassing an enforced week in isolation after contracting Covid-19 ahead of the Pebble Beach pro-am.
There was confirmation Monday that a further three players – Will Zalatoris, Robert MacIntyre and Brian Harman – had earned exemptions to the Masters by retaining their places in the world's top-50 for the final cut-off point on that particular qualifying category.
Billy Horschel – who isn't playing in San Antonio – caught a NetJets flight home to Florida for a week of preparation ahead of the Masters but with lofty ambitions after adding a WGC title to his career CV with his final win over Scottie Schefller at the WCC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
“I think I only have one top-five [in] a Major, so obviously I sound ridiculous saying this, but I think I have the talent [to win one]. I know I have that talent. I just haven’t played well enough and done what I needed to do,” observed Horschel, whose best finish in a Major came in the 2013 US Open where he finished tied-fourth. That championship also happened to be his maiden appearance in any Major.
