Graeme McDowell pulled out of BMW PGA due to Bahamas hurricane

Graeme McDowell is a fan favourite in the United Kingdom, thanks to his heroics in the 2010 Ryder Cup when he sunk a putt to beat Hunter Mahan and win Team Europe the trophy. McDowell was scheduled to play in the BMW PGA Championship last week where he would have been welcomed with open arms, but the Northern Irishman pulled out a week prior to the event due to a 'personal issue' and now we know what that was.

McDowell took to Twitter to let his fans know that he wouldn't be attending the event at Wentworth and apologised to both the European Tour, the event sponsors and the fans.

It turns out that McDowell was supporting those close to him who had been heavily affected by Hurricane Dorian that devastated the Bahamas recently, the island where McDowell himself also has a home.

The 40-year-old was reluctant to pull out of the event at Wentworth but admitted "it was tough to do but it has been an emotional few weeks".

"Friends and people that we care about just lost everything," he added.

"It put things in perspective for me from a golf point of view. Trying to help people took a lot of focus off what I was doing. I didn't get to practice and prepare as much as I would have wanted, from working on our place and trying to help people down there.

"People that we care about, people who are really good friends, their homes just got flattened. They're now trying to get their lives back.

"We've been trying to help with some fundraising efforts and we've been trying to rebuild. Mother Nature puts life in perspective with how cruel it can be."

"It has been really scary and my mind just hasn't been on golf," said the 2010 U.S Open winner.

"Consequently, I just didn't feel that I was ready to play at Wentworth. It's been a very difficult few weeks and I'm looking forward to getting back on the golf course, refocusing and taking the next steps."