Does McDowell now become a favorite for U.S. Open?

Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland won the RBC Heritage on Sunday, his first PGA Tour win since the 2010 U.S. Open.(Photo: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images)

Story Highlights

• Graeme McDowell won the RBC Heritage on Sunday in difficult conditions
• “I needed the course to play tough today, and I got that”
• Tiger Woods is still favored, but McDowell is moving up

Graeme McDowell missed the cut at the Masters just more than a week ago. On Sunday, he displayed the kind of game that can win U.S. Opens, such as the one he won in 2010 at wind-swept Pebble Beach.

McDowell, who honed his game on the windy seaside course of Northern Ireland, handled the windy conditions and the tight confines of Harbour Town better than anyone else at the top of the leaderboard on his way to a playoff victory against Webb Simpson.

RBC HERITAGE: McDowell earns second Tour win^[1]

The RBC Heritage was his second PGA Tour victory.

“I guess the weather was kind of what the doctor ordered for me today,” McDowell said of the steady driving winds — there were gusts of up to 45 mph in the area. “I needed an opportunity to get close to these leaders.

“I needed the course to play tough today, and I got that.”

Exactly the kind of thing a U.S. Open course delivers — even without adverse weather conditions.

Tiger Woods is listed as the favorite for the June 13-16 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club outside Philadelphia, a minute track set to feature thin fairways, high rough and slick greens. McDowell is down the list … for now. (Odds are from Ladbrokes.com, and McDowell moved up from 33-1 a week earlier.)

Tiger Woods 6/1

Rory McIlroy 10/1

Lee Westwood 16/1

Luke Donald 20/1

Adam Scott 20/1

Justin Rose 25/1

Graeme McDowell 25/1

Phil Mickelson 33/1

Sergio Garcia 33/1

Brandt Snedeker 33/1

Charl Schwartzel 40/1

Jason Day 40/1

Rickie Fowler 40/1

Thorbjorn Olesen 40/1

Dustin Johnson 40/1

Louis Oosthuizen 40/1

Martin Kaymer 40/1

Ian Poulter 40/1

Ernie Els 40/1