Graeme McDowell ready for Dubai showdown with Martin Kaymer

As the old saying does not go, one professional golfer's car crash is another professional's golden opportunity. A year ago this week Tiger Woods ran his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant in Florida and Graeme McDowell, ranked 58th in the world, was called up to take the world No1's place in his own Chevron World Challenge event in California. The rest, of course, has been scandal-fashioned history for Woods, but for McDowell the months that followed have been hewn from the purest gold. The Northern Irishman finished second at the Chevron event – a performance that propelled him to heights he could only have imagined. A year later, he is a major championship winner and a Ryder Cup hero after sealing victory for Europe in South Wales. He has won twice more on the European Tour, is No9 in the world rankings and will tee off in the first round of the Dubai World Championship tomorrow with a chance to win what was once called the European Tour Order of Merit. These days it is known as the Race to Dubai but if the name has changed, the prestige has not. "After the Ryder Cup I could have probably put my feet up for the rest of the year. I'd still have looked back and said, 'Great season, dream season', but I didn't want to do that," McDowell said. "You don't get many chances to win an Order of Merit. They might not quite be up there with major championships but they are a pinnacle. They define careers. Look at [Colin] Montgomerie and his eight Order of Merit wins; that is unbelievable." There is no mistaking McDowell's appetite for yet another prize, although there has to be a degree of doubt about his prospects over the next four days, not least because Martin Kaymer stands between him and his ambition. The German leads McDowell by just under £300,000 on the money list and, it is fair to say, has not had a bad year either. He won this year's US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits and climbed to No3 in the world rankings on the back of some terrific performances around the world. He is a formidable opponent, as McDowell has acknowledged. The two-ball format of this event, which will see the top 60 players in Europe teeing off in reverse order, means the Northern Irishman and the German will step on to the opening tee at 12.30pm local time. It promises to be a fascinating contest between two contrasting styles and, it has to be said, personalities. Kaymer is the strong silent type, with a game founded on efficiency of technique and thought. McDowell, on the other hand, is a garrulous sort with an unorthodox swing game and the attitude of a fairground boxer. He has never met a battle he has not found tasty, and this one is no different. A month ago Kaymer had a £700,000 advantage in the money list but a succession of good performances from McDowell, including a win in Spain last month and two top‑five finishes in his last two events, has narrowed the gap to £248,000 – still significant but with a £300,000 difference in prize money for first and second place for second place, McDowell will win the Race to Dubai if he wins the tournament. It is a tall order but then so was holding off Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els over the back nine of this year's US Open at Pebble Beach, and he did that with aplomb. "You know there has definitely been an interesting atmosphere between the two of us this week – a bit of a quiet stand-off – but I think we are both enjoying it," McDowell said. "Look at it in terms of a horse race. He had 25-length lead and I'm coming up fast on the inside. We've got one fence left and I feel I'm coming on strong." But will he get his nose in front by Sunday afternoon? With Kaymer coming off a decent rest and on a course that suits his game better than that of McDowell, the smart money says Germany will be celebrating. But then the smart money would have laid you any odds-against that McDowell would have achieved all he has this past year. As Rory McIlroy said in weighing up his countryman's chances: "He's on a roll. All he has to do is put his ball on the fairway, hit it on the green and hole the putt." Simple, really.