McDowell: in the form of his life
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Graeme McDowell claims this week's Open field will be disappointed that Tiger Woods is not playing - but also see his absence as an opportunity.
Woods will miss his first major in more than a decade after undergoing knee surgery following his victory in last month's US Open.
The 14-time major champion would have started a hot favourite to win a fourth Claret Jug and McDowell admits he will be missed.
"We are disappointed he is not going to be there obviously. He's the marquee man," said McDowell, winner of the Scottish Open the week before the Open.
"People come to watch Tiger Woods and we're very lucky to be playing golf in an era where Tiger Woods is the greatest player that's ever touched a golf club.
"He boosts tournaments all around the world when he plays and he's going to be a massive loss to Birkdale next week.
Positive
"On the positive side, obviously we don't have to beat him. He's pretty tough to beat when it comes to major championships. When I was leading at Hoylake, I shot one over par in the second round on Friday morning and Tiger shot 65 and just left me in a cloud of dust and that was the end of my Open."
That inevitably leads to mixed feelings amongst Woods' rivals this week.
McDowell added: "It's a mixture of disappointment that he's not going to be there because he adds a lot to the atmosphere of the tournament in general, but at the same time it blasts the field wide open, which is good for us."
Great run
The 28-year-old from Portrush comes to Royal Birkdale among the favourites after finishing 13th at the French Open, third at the European Open and then winning at Loch Lomond, in the process virtually guaranteeing a first Ryder Cup appearance.
"I've given myself a great run these last three weeks. I've put some (Ryder Cup) points on the board, which is what I set out to do. I really targeted this run of five events. Hopefully I've left something in the tank.
"I really didn't have too much planned the next few days anyway as far as practise and preparation. I played the golf course already and I was really going to go with a chilled-out approach."
