GOLF: This is no ordinary week's work for Graeme McDowell, a player who has made the move from amateur to professional with the sort of seamless consequence that a plastic surgeon anticipates every time the scalpel causes an incision in a patient's skin. In the 23-year-old Ulsterman's case, however, the transition has been painless.

Now, here he is at Valderrama, playing in his first Volvo Masters, and his demeanour suggests it is where he belongs. Time has flown. It was only back in June that McDowell - with still a year of his studies to complete at the University of Alabama - decided to swap the books for a life as a professional player. By the first week in August, in only his fourth tournament on the European Tour, he was a winner, claiming the Scandinavian Masters title.

Of course, he was a proven winner as an amateur. From the tail-end of last year's collegiate season into this year's campaign, he won eight times. In 2000, he also won the World Universities title. So, the move into the paid ranks was made with some degree of expectancy.

"I always believed I could win," he observed, "but I just didn't think it would happen that fast."

That win in Sweden has given him a card for the next two years but, intriguingly, he has also moved into contention to become the first Irish winner of the European Tour's "rookie of the year" award, for the Henry Cotton trophy. As things stand, McDowell, 54th in the Order of Merit, trails qualifying school graduate Nick Dougherty, who is 33rd, by €152,141 in the money list.

"I gave him a six-month headstart," joked McDowell. And it's true. Doherty has played in 31 tournaments this season, while McDowell has played just 12. And the Henry Cotton trophy is not decided purely on the basis of money won - the actual destination is decided by a panel of experts, representing the European Tour. However, for McDowell to pass Dougherty on the money list, he would need to secure a top-three finish this week.

"I'm not a good goalsetter at the start of a week," admitted McDowell. "I just want to play well, and be around the lead for the weekend."

In the long term, McDowell sees his future on the US Tour. He intends to take up eight invitations to play there next season - starting with the Pebble Beach pro-am - but will spend most of his time on the European Tour. "I see it (the US tour) as a long-term home. I'm not sure of what I am going to do or how I am going to go about it, but I like the lifestyle there and America is where the world ranking points are and, for me, it is all about fast-tracking up the world rankings right now."