Golf

For those of you thought that Ireland’s hopes of another US open winner were lost when Rory McIlroy missed the cut, think again.

Two years after he won the tournament at Pebble Beach, Graeme McDowell surged into a share of the lead at the ridiculously difficult Olympic Club in San Francisco and will play in the final pairing later today with the far from fast and furious Jim Furyk, with both players tied for the lead on one under par.

G-Mac, whose hilarious transatlantic accent probably makes him feel right at home in San Francisco, shot a brilliant two-under par 68 yesterday on a day when Tiger Woods dropped back to five shots off the lead after a five over par 75.

Considering how tough the course has played over the last three days, Tiger is still well in contention, as are Ernie Els and Lee Westwood – who shot 68 and 67 respectively yesterday – and our own Padraig Harrington, who is a shot behind Woods on five over par.

If McDowell can pull off victory this evening, it would be the third time in three years that the tournament has been won by a golfer from Ireland – Northern Ireland to be more precise – and this in a competition where there hadn’t been a European winner for 40 years prior to G-Mac’s success in 2010. A serious achievement.

Of course, with the tournament being played in San Francisco, McDowell won’t be teeing off until 11.10pm Irish time, so if you’re going to cheer him on, have plenty of coffees at the ready because it could be a long night.