Steady performance makes McDowell a worthy winner

Pebble Beach did what it was supposed to in the U.S. Open – knock the world's best players to their knees and see which one can get back up. As Mike McAllister notes, at the end of a grueling 72 holes, Graeme McDowell proved he most deserved to win.

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Perhaps the most appropriate scene that reflects what took place Sunday at the 110th U.S. Open was not the celebration hug that Graeme McDowell received from his father Kenny on the 18th green at Pebble Beach, an embrace that lasted only a few seconds but produced a flood of emotions and a lifetime of memories.

It was not Dustin Johnson searching for his lost tee shot in some nasty rough under a tree somewhere in the general vicinity of the third fairway. In the midst of a meltdown of near-historic proportions, Johnson failed to find his ball within the five-minute rule -- someone found it 19 seconds too late -- and failed to replicate the kind of spectacular golf that had set him up with a three-shot lead after 54 holes.

And it was not Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson wearing looks of frustration time and time again on Sunday. With the lead now within reach thanks to Johnson's implosion, the world's two best players surprisingly had nothing to offer in response. Disappointed? A lost opportunity? Yes, that's likely how those two will remember their 72 holes at Pebble Beach.

Rather, the image that most comes to mind is Ernie Els climbing back up a steep cliff after losing a shot into the hazard midway through his round. Worried that he might slip and fall into Stillwater Cove, Els was essentially on all fours, digging hard to get back to level ground, to get back to safety.

But there was nothing safe about the final round. Pebble Beach did what U.S. Open courses are supposed to do, especially on a Sunday, especially on a layout that has a wicked bite to match its unparalleled beauty. It's supposed to knock you on your hands and knees.

"It's a tough test of golf," said McDowell, the 30-year-old from Northern Ireland who becomes the first European in 40 years to win the U.S. Open. "There's bogeys around every corner. The second you start pushing, you're going to make bogeys."

And maybe that's the best way to explain the ebb and flow on Sunday. With Johnson giving up the lead with a triple bogey-double bogey-bogey stretch starting at the second hole, the championship that was his to lose suddenly now anybody's to win. Four hours left to play and "it was a wide-open tournament," Mickelson said.

Stepping on the gas, though, is not generally how you succeed on the final day of a U.S. Open. Sure, it would've been great to see some player go out and snatch the year's second major with the kind of sizzling 66 that Woods and Johnson shot on Saturday, and Mickelson shot on Friday.

And with the first seven holes as the best scoring chances at Pebble, it was imperative to get off to a great start. But Woods, who seemed to have his game back in order, made three early bogeys. It was not his day. Mickelson started with a birdie but managed nothing else. Els was the hottest out of the gate, with three birdies in his first six holes, good enough to grab a share of the lead.

But this race goes to the tortoise, not the hare. It goes to the golfers who play smart and steady, who put their shots in the right positions, and who avoid the costly mistakes. Woods, for instance, said he made three mental errors Sunday. "The only thing it cost us was a chance to win the U.S. Open," he said glumly.

Els went bogey-double bogey-bogey around the turn to drop back. Mickelson retreated too. "All I had to do was shoot even par in the back, and I'm in a playoff," he noted. "I wasn't able to do it, obviously. It was tough."

Instead, McDowell's most serious challenger became Frenchman Gregory Havret, who made putts of 50 feet and 20 feet in last month's Open qualifier in Europe just to secure a spot. You probably don't know much about Havret -- he entered this week ranked 391st in the world -- but do know this: He was the steadiest player Sunday of the top six players entering the final round, outshooting playing partner Woods by three strokes.

A Frenchman outplaying the world's best golfer in the heat and pressure of a Sunday major? Sacre bleu!

"No disrespect to Gregory -- he's a great player -- but when you have Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els obviously there," McDowell said, "you're not expecting Gregory Havret to be the guy you've got to fend off."

Havret, however, finally stumbled on the hardest hole of the course, the par-3 17th, giving McDowell some much-needed breathing room with a two-shot lead.

A few minutes later, McDowell bogeyed the same hole. But he smartly laid up at the par-5 18th, avoiding trouble with the ocean down the left side and ultimately giving himself a short par putt for the one-stroke win.

McDowell certainly wasn't flawless this week. In fact, he bogeyed four of his last 10 holes Sunday. But he never made a double bogey all week. And, of course, he was the only player to finish at level par for the tournament.

That speaks volumes about what it takes to win the U.S. Open. And after seeing the champions of the last two U.S. Opens -- McDowell this year; Lucas Glover last year -- maybe we need to get used to the unexpected winner.

Woods wasn't surprised at Sunday's outcome. He said the way that Mike Davis, the USGA's senior director of rules and competition, sets up the U.S. Open course creates a much larger pool of possible champions.

"He's given more guys the chance to win the golf tournament," Woods explained. "It's more open now. With the graduated rough, being firm and fast like this, it brings a lot more players into play who have a chance to win."

But only one player had a chance to win as he stood over his final putt on the 72nd hole Sunday. Graeme McDowell wasn't the flashiest player this week, but he was certainly the most deserving. When it comes to deciding major winners, that's really all that matters.