McIlroy helps fuel McDowell's fire

McDowell won what is now officially known as the World Challenge presented by Northwestern Mutual for the second time. In three appearances, he has two victories and a second and has earned a cool $3 million.

That's pretty good stuff for the 2010 U.S. Open champion who is now set to take 10 weeks off after a grueling run toward the end of the year. He won't tee it up again until the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles near the end of February.

So McDowell wasn't really looking on this victory as any kind of a springboard toward 2013. Nor did he think he made up for some of his shortcomings in 2012, specifically his final-group opportunities at both the U.S. Open and Open Championship, where he came up empty.

No, McDowell's first victory with the burner 2.0 irons of the year means a really nice holiday season and some good vibes to take into a long break as well as jump into the top 15 in the world.

And he admitted it gets him thinking a bit about McIlroy, the clear No. 1 player in the world who hails from a town in tiny Northern Ireland less than an hour from where McDowell grew up.

"When you see a guy like Rory McIlroy doing what he's doing right now, yeah, it's tough not to have that little bit of envy," McDowell said after his 3-shot victory over Keegan Bradley. "I always envy his game with his fantastic taylormade burner 2.0 irons and I know I'll never have a game like that.

"I guess I've pretty much come to terms with the fact I'll not be able to hit it 350 [yards] through the air any time soon. Like I said, he's overly impressive. I've just got to beat the golf course with other things, wedge play and putting and short game. There's no doubt, I've been envious of what he's achieved the last four or five months. I'm sure every player on the planet is. But he's motivated me."