McDowell at home in thinker’s paradise

Joining your school’s chess club just to meet good-looking girls hints at a certain degree of strategic acumen and Graeme McDowell is enough of a tactician to also admit he is relishing the challenges Royal Lytham & St Annes will pose as he plots a route to British Open success.

The 2010 US Open champion has come out of the doldrums that hit him in the wake of that stellar year, that also brought a Ryder Cup-winning putt for Europe, and his runner-up finish behind Webb Simpson at Olympic in last month’s US Open has given McDowell the confidence to believe he is back in business as a Major contender.

Ally those positive thoughts to the way Royal Lytham fits McDowell’s eye and there is the firm belief that the Irishman is ready at last to compete for a Claret Jug.