In an interview this week golf ace Graeme McDowell underlined why he has decided to join the PGA Tour.
"It was a pretty easy decision,' McDowell told the press. "Compare me to Lee Westwood or Rory or Martin Kaymer, I'm probably a bit more settled over here in the States than some of the guys may be. I played college golf obviously here for three years, I have a home in Orlando, so perhaps I'm a little bit more U.S. based than some of the guys would be.
But when I look at my schedule for next season, there's very little changes. I'm only going to pick up maybe two to three more events between January and August really here in the States. I mean, it's really not a hugely different schedule.
The major difference is obviously the Playoffs, August, September. Us top 50 in the world players, we get so much access to come across here and play in the best events anyway. The only reason to take your TOUR card is to be part of the TOUR and play the FedExCup Playoffs and be part of the money events.
As European Tour players we're very global players. We play all over the world, and we travel a ton. The schedule can be quite demanding.
So I mean, I'm sure like Lee Westwood, he's the world's number one player right now, why does he want to go changing things up too much. I've always quite fancied playing the Tour over here a little bit more. I can understand that guys see their schedule differently. Everyone is different. I want to give it a go next year. I'm looking forward to it.
Asked if he anticipated the game's top players trading places at number one next year and if it would be good for the game, McDowell replied:
"I think that would be good for the game. It's brought a lot to the European Tour this year, obviously with three major champions and the Ryder Cup win and then obviously Lee going to the world's number one. It's been exciting for European golf and certainly British and Irish golf. I think it's great for golf that we have so much - this last year obviously with Tiger going through his troubles and whatnot, I think it's given the world a chance to view what golf might be like without Tiger, and I think we see that golf is very healthy. We've got some really great, young talent coming through.
But on another note, I mean, obviously getting Tiger Woods back winning golf tournaments, I think golf needs him back, as well. So I'm looking forward to him getting back winning tournaments again next year. I'm sure he'll be pretty motivated to get back, his No. 1 spot back. But it's been great for golf this year to see so many young players coming through and just to see the state of the game and see that it's healthy.
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