One day after a report included quotes from Graeme McDowell, claiming that Tiger Woods has lost his “force field of invincibility,” the Ulsterman took to Twitter to clarify his stance when it comes to the world’s top-ranked player.
McDowell made his original statements to a group of reporters at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, and the comments were first reported by PGATour.com.
He released the following series of tweets Thursday morning to his more than 568,000 followers:
I spent 90% of my press conference last week at Bay Hill being asked questions about Tiger, speculating about where his game is right now...
— Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) March 27, 2014
...Many of my quotes have been taken out of context and spun quite negatively. It's hard for me to comment on Tiger in the early 2000s....
— Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) March 27, 2014
...I can only say that he has raised the bar so much in the sport globally and players are so much better equipped to win these days...
— Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) March 27, 2014
...He seems more beatable nowadays simply because the players around him are better and have more belief thanks to Tiger moving the needle.
— Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) March 27, 2014
...I really shouldn't get caught up in speculation and opinion especially when talking about TW. You set yourself up for failure. #nocomment
— Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) March 27, 2014
McDowell is playing this week in Malaysia in the inaugural EurAsia Cup, a match-play event styled after the Ryder Cup. He teamed with Jamie Donaldson Thursday to defeat Kim Hyung-sung and Nicholas Fung, 3 and 1, and Team Europe leads 5-0 after the first day of competition.