US Open: It's all about learning curves, whether you're 38 years old as Paul McGinley is, or 25, in the case of Graeme McDowell. You can read all the books, watch all the videos and talk to all the sports psychiatrists in the world but, until you actually play in the final round of the US Open, you don't really know what it's about. Yesterday, at Pinehurst No 2, both players found out.

"I might be 38 years old," said McGinley, after a final round 74 for 13-over-par 293 left him in a comfortable mid-table position but well out of the raw heat of contention, "but in terms of experience of playing in these major championships I'm still pretty raw. It's a steep learning curve."

For McGinley, the fourth round was just as it had been on the previous three days with the putter: colder than ice.

"Ah, I've putted horribly all week. I've just struggled on the greens. I didn't break 31 putts all week and you can't play in a US Open doing that.

"You know, I've been putting well all year . . . it's just a mental thing. That and the pin positions. The pins are a lot tougher at the weekends and I was intimidated by them. I won't be the next time."

In yesterday's finishing round, McGinley had a horrid five three-putts.

"If you misjudge putts at all, you're going off the green and I just didn't get the pace at all. I've never seen pins so close to the edge (of greens). But don't get me wrong, I think that's great. I'd love to see more of it in Europe. If we had pin positions like that in Europe, we'd probably be crying about them and that's wrong.

"Still, putting as badly as I have done, I'm going to finish around 40th. I won't be intimidated by such positions again, that's for sure."

McGinley, who had travelled to the airport in Raleigh-Durham some 80 miles away on Friday night, only to be called back by his manager, Chubby Chandler, when it became clear he had survived the cut (his first in a US Open), is looking forward to the rest of the season as he is guaranteed places in the next two majors, the British Open and the US PGA, as well in the World Golf Championship events, the NEC Invitational and the American Express.

This week, the Dubliner plays in the French Open, the second leg of a six-week continuous stretch that will also take in the Smurfit European Open, the Scottish Open, the British Open and the Deutsche Bank TPC of Europe.

McDowell, who had a disastrous final round and finished with an 81 for 21-over-par 301 to finish near the tail of the field, was naturally disappointed with his final day's work, but, as is his nature, he preferred to focus on the positives of competing in his first US Open and making the cut in a major for the first time in his career.

"I've not been on top of my game and I have just found out how tough Pinehurst can be. Yes I'm disappointed, but I still feel confident about my game. This is all a learning curve, and sometimes learning can hurt.

"I've certainly gained some type of experience from all this. I enjoyed the whole US Open experience, and playing with Freddie Couples, who was a boyhood hero of mine. I played well for three rounds and I've learnt a lot from it.

"I feel like my game's in good shape and I'm looking forward to the next few weeks," said McDowell, who is playing in the Barclays Classic in Westchester this week and the European Open next week.

"It'll be different. All of a sudden you can hit fairways and you can make birdies."

As regards future majors, McDowell believes that his experience of playing in the past four - the British, US PGA, US Masters and now the US Open - will stand to him. "I understand what I need to do to go to the next level from a majors point of view. I've got to bring the ball in left to right. I've got to bring it in a little softer. I've got to work hard on my short game.

"You've got to realise your weakness, and you've got to understand why you're not playing well. I certainly did at Augusta and realised my short game wasn't good enough and I've made steps to improve that. I feel it slowly and surely is getting better, but it's going to take time. You can do as much practice on these things as you want but you've got to go out and produce it in this kind of environment. I feel like I'm going in the right direction.

"Today was a little bit of a kick in the teeth, but the week in general was a very good experience."