McDowell Ends a Long Drought at Sherwood Graeme McDowell loves nothing better than to close out a long year with a win, and there's no better place for him to do that than Sherwood Country Club and the World Challenge. Two years ago, he rallied from four shots behind in the final round and beat Tiger Woods in a playoff. Staked to a two-shot lead on Sunday, McDowell never let Keegan Bradley catch up to him, and he protected his lead on the back nine with a pair of superb short-game shots to save par. One of them was a 75-foot lag putt to within tap-in range, critical for someone coming off a three-putt bogey. The other was a delicate chip behind the 17th green that the ball had to land in the rough, and then the fringe, or it would have raced by the cup. It stopped a fraction of an inch away from falling. The only debate was which win was more meaningful. "It's been a frustrating year," McDowell said. This really caps off my season. Two years ago, the win capped off an amazing year in which McDowell won his first major at the U.S. Open and delivered the winning point for Europe in the Ryder Cup. What made Sunday so special was the fact he hadn't won anything at all - nothing since that last World Challenge win two years ago. Graeme McDowell poses with the trophy after winning the World Challenge golf tournament at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. It's been too long. It's been a hell of a two years since I sat here as a winner," McDowell said after closing with a 4-under 68 for a three-shot win. We all put winning up on a pedestal as the ultimate goal. We like to say that it's all about the process and going through the motions and trying to get better. But let's be honest. We all measure ourselves by the win. I can say that now. For two years, I've been saying things like 'processes' and 'trying to get better' and 'be patient' and 'hopefully the wins will come.' So I'm just relieved, really. I guess I got fed up with telling everybody that I'm playing well. I'm relieved to get across the line and take some nice confidence into this little off period I've got coming up. McDowell was headed home to Northern Ireland for a few days before taking the rest of his 10-week break in his new house at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla. He just finished building the house, which sits across from a lake instead of a golf course - "I get enough views of golf courses," he said. He just got engaged last month. He is opening a tavern outside the gates of his Orlando club called "Nona Blue." There are a lot of changes in his life, and that's why it was important for him to get into that old habit of winning. "I know I'm good enough," McDowell said. I think when you know you're good enough, it gets even more frustrating. The three-shot margin made it look easier than it was. Sherwood was playing longer than ever in a light rain, giving an advantage to a big hitter like Bradley, not to mention tournament host Tiger Woods. Even when McDowell built a four-shot lead through 11 holes, a careless three-putt bogey on the 13th brought Bradley within two shots with five holes to play. McDowell responded with the 75-foot putt that he lagged to tap-in range. From a precarious spot behind the 17th green, he had to land his chip in the rough and hope it would hop onto the fringe and not run too far by the hole. He pulled it off perfectly. "It was an inch away from sticking in the fringe, and about 1-16th of an inch away from going in the hole," he said.