Kroichick: Open winner McDowell no longer under radar

At the start of 2009, most of us had no idea Lucas Glover passed his free time reading novels (not exactly a common pastime among tour pros). We didn't know Stewart Cink was an early, obsessive user of Twitter. We didn't realize Y.E. Yang once aspired to become a bodybuilder and didn't swing a golf club until age 19.

Only the most ardent fan even knew Yang played professional golf.

But one of the cool byproducts of this recent spate of first-time major champions -- from Glover, Cink and Yang last year to Graeme McDowell, winner of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach on Sunday -- is getting a glimpse into the stories of previously under-the-radar players.

McDowell joined the parade by persevering at Pebble, while all the familiar, no-surname-required men on the leaderboard -- Tiger, Phil, Ernie -- wilted down the stretch. Once the fog cleared, it was McDowell planted on the couch alongside Jay Leno on Monday night, joking about the "purely medicinal" value of beer.

McDowell started playing golf at age 8 on the links courses of his native Northern Ireland. He suggested the background made him feel comfortable at cool and breezy Pebble Beach, even if the wind never gusted too strongly during the Open.

His story smacks of modest roots and sporting persistence. He grew up in the small seaside town of Portrush, where both of his parents, Ken and Marian, worked full time. McDowell's mom reportedly is nursing multiple sclerosis and watched Sunday's final round from Spain.

His interest in the game grew during his teenage years, as he "did nothing but play golf" with his dad and younger brother. "I was in love with the game from the word go," McDowell said.

He didn't initially attract much interest from U.S. college programs, so he went to school in Belfast before ultimately landing at Alabama-Birmingham. McDowell earned recognition as the nation's top college golfer, turned pro in 2002 and launched a successful career spent mostly on the European Tour.

His anonymity on this side of the Atlantic -- McDowell went totally unrecognized while wandering downtown Monterey last week during the Open -- ended when he outlasted golf's biggest names to win. Oddly enough, as he played Sunday's final round, he found motivation in the feats of those once-unheralded players who danced across the grand stage before him.

"There were so many names popping into my head," McDowell told the Irish Independent. "I thought of Padraig Harrington, Zach Johnson, Y.E. Yang, Lucas Glover, Trevor Immelman, all these guys who won majors for the first time. I thought, 'They could do it, so can I.' I was drawing inspiration from them."

It worked.

-- CREAMER'S BACK: This counts as one strange LPGA schedule. The women played four domestic events in the year's first five months -- and now they play two majors in the next three weeks, starting with the LPGA Championship outside Rochester, N.Y.

Among those chasing the title is Paula Creamer, who played solidly last week (finishing seventh) in her return from thumb surgery. She hadn't played a tour event in nearly four months, yet she planted herself in contention in her first tournament.

"It was probably one of the hardest things I ever had to go through," Creamer said of her extended absence. "There were so many ups and downs emotionally. ... I've never had that much time off in probably nine or 10 years. It was a new thing."

Creamer actually fielded 14 questions in her pre-tournament news conference Wednesday before someone asked about the "major thing." She knew exactly what the reporter was talking about -- Creamer, for all her success (eight wins) in her five-plus years on tour, is still seeking her first major title.

"I don't think it defines who I am or what I want to do," she said. "Everybody knows I want to win a major. It's just a matter of time."

Creamer dropped to No. 13 in the world rankings during her exile, then inched up to No. 12 after last week's strong showing. Japan's Ai Miyazato replaced Jiyai Shin of South Korea at No. 1 in this week's rankings.

(E-mail Ron Kroichick at rkroichick(at)sfchronicle.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

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