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McDowell reveals name of daughter

GOLFER Graeme McDowell has revealed the name of his newborn daughter - Vale Esme.

The Portrush sports star and his American wife Kristin welcomed the baby girl into the world last week but remained tight-lipped about her name.

McDowell revealed their choice in an online column, with Vale believed to be taken from an old English word meaning 'valley by a stream'.

He also described his joy at becoming a father and said following his daughter's birth, it felt like "a switch inside me that's flicked and I know things have changed forever".

He that while his attention had been focused on his wife and first-born child, he had been "keeping an eye on the Ryder Cup spot".

His place in the European team to take on the US was confirmed on Sunday after Scottish golfer Stephen Gallacher fell short of gaining an automatic place following the Italian Open.

McDowell earned the ninth and final qualifying spot to secure his fourth consecutive Ryder Cup appearance. "It might have been the week when my Ryder Cup spot was finally confirmed but, to be honest, much of my attention was elsewhere and for the very best of reasons," he wrote in a column for the BBC. "Since becoming a father for the first time last Monday, my mind has been 99 per cent on the new mum, baby and nappies. "We have called our daughter Vale Esme and emotionally it's still all kind of sinking in. "There's a switch inside me that's flicked and I know things have changed forever. "There was, though, that one per cent which led me to flicking on the European Tour app every now and again to see how Stephen Gallacher was getting on in the Italian Open."

* PROUD: Golfer Graeme McDowell has revealed that he and his wife Kristin have named their newborn daughter Vale Esme