Young gun Graeme McDowell can be even bigger than Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood - according to his manager Chubby Chandler.

The 22 year old pocketed a cheque for ¤14,000 when he came home 27th in the Murphy's Irish Open at Fota Island.

It was his first cheque as a professional and Chandler feels that the young Rathmore kid can go all the way and outdo star clients Westwood and Clarke.

Now he has a chance to earn even bigger bucks when he plays in this week's £2 million Smurfit European Open.

"On paper he is as good as Darren and a better player than Lee was at that age," said Chandler.

"And he still has five more invitations to European Tour events this season and I feel he can earn the £110,000 he needs to get his tour card."

If McDowell pulls it off he will join the likes of Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey as young stars who have earned a full card on the basis of invitations alone.

McDowell missed the cut in his first event, the low key Great North Open at Slaley Hall two weeks ago.

But Chandler feels that Slaley it was the perfect scenario for his debut.

"It would have been crazy for Graeme to make his debut at Fota Island or here at the K Club this week with all the attention," he said.

McDowell will play in Europe for the first few years of his career in an attempt to establish himself in the world rankings.

"Europe is the place to establish yourself," said Chandler. "Just compare how Luke Donald has struggled in the US as compared to the success of Paul Casey and Nick Dougherty in Europe."

McDowell may eventually decide to head for the US Tour where Chandler is setting up an office, but for the moment Europe is the key.

Greg Norman, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen have all used the European tour as a stepping stone to greater things.

Said Chandler: "Adam Scott is a player who has done it the right way and concentrated on Europe. He could be the next Els or Goosen."

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© Brian Keogh 2002

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