McDowell's Historic Win for Europe 麥克道爾取得歷史性勝利

On Sunday night Graeme McDowell became the first European to win the US Open in 40 years.

The US Open is one of the four golf majors and is a highlight in the sporting calendar.

The 30-year-old from Northern Ireland beat off golf heavyweights Tiger Woods, Phil Mickleson and Ernie Els to clinch the prestigious title. On the final day of the week-long competition, McDowell held off the challenge from France's Gregory Havret to win by one shot.

Graeme has been playing professionally since 2002 and said "It's an absolute dream come true, I've dreamed about this all my life."

It's hard to believe that two months ago Graeme was in danger of not qualifying for the competition, but a win at the Wales Open secured his place at the major.

Tiger Woods had previously won the competition three times and after a good third round Tiger looked in with a chance of a fourth win. But after five months away from the game under an intense media spotlight, following a scandal in his private life, the A-list golfer could not muster up enough confidence to be triumphant.

From winning the title, Graeme not only gains a tidy sum of money but also jumps from 37th to 13th in the golf world rankings.

However, despite earning a lucrative salary every year, Graeme is still firmly rooted in his home town of Portrush on the north coast of Northern Ireland.

He admits that professional golfers can lead very lavish lifestyles and that you can become "blasé" about it. However he says that is why his home town is very important to him and is what keeps him "grounded".

So where to celebrate his historic victory? Portrush of course!

Graeme says he will be joining his friends at home for a pint of the traditional Irish black beer, Guinness.

Glossary 詞匯表 (收聽發(fā)音, 請單擊英語單詞)

• majors重要賽事
• the sporting calendar 體育運(yùn)動日程表
• heavyweights重量級人物
• clinch抓住、贏得
• prestigious聲望很高的
• held off the challenge 贏得挑戰(zhàn)
• dream come true 夢想成真
• intense media spotlight 大量媒體聚光燈
• scandal丑聞
• muster up 鼓起（勇氣）

• to be triumphant 獲勝
• tidy sum 一大筆獎金
• rankings排名
• lucrative賺錢的，獲利的
• firmly rooted 深深扎根于
• lavish lifestyles 奢侈的生活
• blasé 厭煩享樂的
• grounded 低調(diào)的
• historic victory 歷史性的勝利
• Guinness健力士啤酒 （愛爾蘭特產(chǎn)）