McDowell Reveals He Missed BMW PGA To Help Bahamas Recovery

The 2010 US Open champion was helping with the clean-up operation after Hurricane Dorian

McDowell Reveals He Missed BMW PGA To Help Bahamas Recovery

The 2010 US Open champion was helping with the clean-up operation after Hurricane Dorian

McDowell Reveals He Missed BMW PGA To Help Bahamas Recovery

Graeme McDowell has revealed that he pulled out of the BMW PGA Championship to help friends with the clear-up operation after the devastating Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas.

The 2010 US Open winner last week pulled out of Wentworth citing "a personal issue which has kept me from practicing and preparing the way I would have liked to."

G-Mac lives in the Bahamas and told the BBC that friends of his "lost everything.".

"It put things in perspective for me from a golf point of view," he said.

"Trying to help people took a lot of focus off what I was doing.

"I didn't get to practice and prepare as much as I would have wanted, from working on our place and trying to help people down there.

"People that we care about, people who are really good friends, their homes just got flattened.

"They're now trying to get their lives back.

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"We've been trying to help with some fundraising efforts and we've been trying to rebuild. Mother Nature puts life in perspective with how cruel it can be.

"It has been really scary and my mind just hasn't been on golf.

"Consequently, I just didn't feel that I was ready to play at Wentworth. It's been a very difficult few weeks and I'm looking forward to getting back on the golf course, refocusing and taking the next steps."

In the interview with the BBC, G-Mac also revealed that he has begun working with Patrick Reed's coach Kevin Kirk in Houston, Texas and that his big goal for the next 12 months is to play for Padraig Harrington's European Ryder Cup side at Whistling Straits.

Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake recently announced the ONE Bahamas fund set up to help with the relief.

The pair, along with others, donated $6m to the cause in the hope that number could get doubled.

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Elliott Heath
News Editor

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!


Elliott is currently playing:


Driver: Titleist TSR4

3 wood: Titleist TSi2

Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1

Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5

Ball: Srixon Z Star XV