Graeme McDowell’s generosity to the media backfired at the European Tour’s Saudi International on Friday, when an on-course interview he gave during his round resulted in him being put on the clock.
In his post-round comments to the media, McDowell, who is currently in third (-8) at the tournament’s halfway point, revealed that being put on the clock “upset [his] rhythm.”
“I got a monitoring bad time which then turns into being officially on the clock,” McDowell said. “I hit a pretty nice tee shot [on No. 5]. Tim Barter is out there interviewing for SKY Sports and he asked me to do an interview walking up the fairway, which I said yes to, and when I got to my ball, I was first up. So I was 50 yards behind the guys with 215 yards back into the wind with a 3-iron and the wind laid down. I took an extra few seconds and [the referee] gave me a monitoring penalty, which puts me officially on the clock at that point.
“I’d of called a time-out if that had been something that was automatic in my brain,” McDowell continued. “It’s just, you know, the last thing I think of out there. I called a time-out after I hit the shot, but the referee was not really willing to give me any kind of room for error at all. That kind of upset my rhythm for a couple holes. I was disappointed to get that bad time, but it is what it is.”
