I’m playing well enough to win this week, says McDowell

Graeme McDowell returns to Valhalla this week knowing fellow Irishman Rory McIlroy will be the one to beat when the PGA Championship gets under way on Thursday but confident he also belongs on the list of contenders.

McIlroy will start the final Major of the year as red-hot favourite in Kentucky after following his Open Championship victory with a second win in as many starts on Sunday at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio that sent him back to the top of the world rankings.

“He’s the number one in the world player so I don’t see anything of this golf course which suggests to me Rory McIlroy can’t get around it,” McDowell said yesterday after playing the back nine of the par-71 Valhalla course.