McDowell still on Ryder Cup high

LONDON (AFP) - It was back to business on Thursday for some of Europe's Ryder Cup stars including Ulsterman Graeme McDowell at the European PGA Tour's British Masters.

The 29-year-old McDowell shared the disappointment of losing the trophy to a rejuvinated American team, but he insists he has no regrets over the Kentucky experience.

"The Ryder Cup is something we work very hard for and I was never really going to be able to focus on much else," he said.

"Now it's out of the way I have to look towards the end of the season.

"The atmosphere was electric, like nothing I've ever experienced before. You have 12 guys pulling for each other chasing one unique goal.

"As soon as the golf started the weekend was a bit of a blur. I remember sitting at the closing ceremony thinking it was the fastest three days of my life.

"I'm sure it will be a bit of a comedown this week, but it's a tournament I wanted to play and in a funny way not winning the Ryder Cup will probably make it easier to put it behind and move on.

"I want to put a shine on what's been a really good season and finish on a high note."

McDowell won two games at Valhalla, halved one and lost one.

"I was very satisfied personally. - the way I handled the pressure. The standard of golf blew me away. Myself and Padraig (in the Friday fourballs), I think we were 10 under par and got beat," he added.

"There's no doubt I'll take the positives out of last week and hopefully it will stand by me on a Sunday afternoon somewhere in the future, hopefully in a major.

"I really got to ask a lot of questions of myself and I felt like I answered them."