• ESPN Sports Personality of the Year

Graeme McDowell - A star on the rise

Ryder Cup glory came Graeme McDowell's way in 2010 © PA Photos

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At 4 in our list for ESPN Sports Personality of the Year is a golfer who snapped a barren run in the US Open and starred at the Ryder Cup.

Britain's first US Open winner in 40 years and the man who won the deciding point in the 2010 Ryder Cup. Not a bad season for a man who penned his own nickname.

Graeme McDowell was always rated highly thanks to his fine amateur career and was expected to take high rank after winning only his fourth start as a professional at the Scandinavian Masters in 2002. But it proved to be a steady rather than spectacular rise for the UIsterman, as he secured only one more win in the following six years. The 2008 season proved to be a breakthrough year, as two wins at the Ballantines Championship and Scottish Open earned him a place in the Ryder Cup team and proved a springboard for 2010.

McDowell demonstrated he could compete at the highest level with a top-six finish in the WGC-CA Championship, before hitting the target in the Wales Open at the start of June. The win in Wales put McDowell in the mix for the US Open, but there were a host of high-profile Brits and Europeans looking to snap a winless run for Europe that stretched back to Tony Jacklin in 1970. The likes of Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Luke Donald failed to get to grips with the demands of Pebble Beach, unlike McDowell put himself in contention for the final day with three solid rounds of golf. And when it mattered, McDowell held his nerve unlike overnight leader Dustin Johnson who wilted in the face of intense pressure.

"To win at Pebble Beach, to join the names - Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tom Kite, Tiger Woods, me - wow!" McDowell said. "I'm not quite sure if I belong in that list, but hey, I'm there now. It's a pretty amazing feeling."

Becoming the first European winner of the US Open for 40 years would be enough to earn a place in the list, but McDowell added a further glittering award to his CV when helping Europe win back the Ryder Cup. In partnership with Rory McIlroy, G-Mac and Wee-Mac lit up Celtic Manor and the man from Portrush won two-and-a-half points - including the crucial final singles against Hunter Mahan to clinch the victory.

"The US Open felt like a back nine with my dad back at Portrush compared to that," was how McDowell summed up his Ryder Cup experience. He could have been forgiven for resting on his laurels, but it is not in McDowell's makeup to take his foot off the gas.

You get the impression McDowell still pinches himself to confirm it is not a dream and is a reason why he is driven to keep churning out the results. He went on to have a fine autumn with a win at the Valderrama Masters and top-five finishes at the Singapore Open and Hong Kong Open saw him go agonisingly close to running down Martin Kaymer at the top of the European money list.

Despite fatigue setting in, he hauled in Tiger Woods to beat the former world No. 1 in a play-off for the Chevron World Challenge in December and was named joint winner along with Kaymer of the European Golfer of the Year award.

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