• US PGA Championship

Tiger & Phil have lost aura of invincibility - McDowell

ESPN staff
August 12, 2010
Graeme McDowell claimed the US Open title earlier this year © Getty Images
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US Open champion Graeme McDowell believes that the sport's top-ranked players have lost their aura of invincibility, meaning that less celebrated talents are no longer scared by the prospect of triumphing at Majors.

Two of the three Majors this season have been claimed by first-time winners - first McDowell and then Louis Oosthuizen at the British Open - and there is a growing feeling that the trend is set to continue at this week's US PGA Championship.

Tiger Woods' chances of victory appear to have diminished rapidly in the wake of his disastrous performance at the Bridgestone Invitational last week - he finished at 18-over - while Phil Mickelson is struggling with arthritis and Lee Westwood is absent due to injury, prompting McDowell to describe the field as "wide open".

"Guys are not scared anymore," McDowell said. "There's no doubt our fields are much more wide open, and you get a relative no-name on the board on the weekends and they can go on and win."

Paul Casey, who is searching for a maiden Major title himself, echoed McDowell's sentiments when questioned on the same topic. "I think guys now feel that there are multiple possible winners this week," he said. "It's different, not a feeling we've had in a while."

Failing to add to his Major haul of 14 is just one of Woods' worries as he prepares to tee it up at Whistling Straits - anything lower than a 15th-placed finish at the US PGA will leave him requiring a wild card pick for the Ryder Cup in October, while is place at No. 1 in the rankings is also under severe threat.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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