Celtic Manor star Graeme McDowell ends a poor week at Medinah with defeat to Zach Johnson

Graeme McDowell was never in the match as Zach Johnson won 2&1

Graeme McDowell failed to emulate his heroics at Celtic Manor as he slumped to a disappointing 2&1 defeat to Zach Johnson at Medinah.

Graeme McDowell failed to emulate his heroics at Celtic Manor as he slumped to a disappointing 2&1 defeat to Zach Johnson at Medinah.

The 2010 star failed to recover from a terrible start as he went three down after four holes, although he did well to extend the match as far as the 17th despite being at odds with his game.

The Ulsterman missed the opening green and could not get up and down, and Johnson almost holed his approach to the third as he doubled his lead.

McDowell found further trouble at the fourth and could not match Johnson's par, although he stopped the rot when he got a birdie putt to drop at the next.

But he then made a mess of the seventh and ran up an ugly six, although he finished the outward half on a high note with a superb approach to three feet at the ninth.

The next three were halved in par, and McDowell failed to take advantage of Johnson's bogey at the 13th as the deficit remained at two.

Both players struggled to read the greens as Johnson maintained his advantage with three straight pars, and another at the 17th clinched a welcome point for the home side.