Graeme McDowell will be hoping that memories of his last win on The European Tour can inspire him to a first victory of 2011 when he returns to Club de Golf Valderrama for the Andalucia Masters this week.
The Northern Irishman won the inaugural Andalucia Masters last year, capping an outstanding season which took flight when he claimed The Celtic Manor Wales Open, his fifth European Tour title, before his crowning moment at the US Open Championship at Pebble Beach, where he secured his first Major.
McDowell then withstood the challenge of two of his fellow Irishmen, Gareth Maybin and Damien McGrane, to claim a battling victory in high winds at the Sotogrande venue.
Without a win this season, McDowell will be looking for some strong performances in the final six weeks of the year and, having finished tied third in his last European Tour appearance at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, returns to Valderrama in positive form.
He currently sits 24thin The Race to Dubai on €749,957, but a win in Spain could launch him right into the all-important top 15, who share the bonus pool of $7,500,000 while also battling it out for the prize fund of $7,500,000 at the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World in December.
Fellow Major champion Martin Kaymer, meanwhile, has much loftier ambitions in The Race to Dubai as he attempts to narrow the gap on leader Luke Donald with success in Spain this week.
Donald holds a commanding lead in The Race to Dubai Rankings as he occupies the summit with €3,856,394 but a win for Kaymer would exert pressure on the Englishman with seven European Tour events left on the 2011 International Schedule after Andalucia.
The German has won already this year on The European Tour, picking up his ninth career win on the tour at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in January.
The 2010 US PGA Champion earned a top ten finish in his last appearance in Europe at the Portugal Masters and will be looking to improve on his 21stplace finish last year at the Andalucia Masters as he attempts to defend The Race to Dubai title.
Sergio Garcia made significant headway in The Race to Dubai after his spectacular win at the Castelló Masters, moving from 23rdup to 11thposition and he spearheads the home challenge at the Andalucia Masters with a renewed sense of confidence, not to mention a willing home support.
The Spaniard’s 11 shot victory on his home course, the Club de Campo del Mediterráneo, was his fourth career win on Spanish soil and he feels like his game is the best it has been in a long time.
“It’s been really positive recently, after two really bad years,” said the 31 year old after his victory last weekend, his first in almost three years.
“I’ve had great feelings and at the end of the day the most important thing is what I feel. I’ve been putting really well since before the US Open, I like the consistency I’m achieving now.
“I think I am going the right way but that doesn’t mean that it’s time to relax. I still want to continue enjoying myself on and off of the golf course and now I just want to play well in Valderrama.“
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño is also back in action this week after his best finish of the year at the Castelló Masters, where he finished second thanks to a final round of 64.
Miguel Angel Jiménez, Pablo Larrazábal, Alvaro Quiros and 2012 Ryder Cup Captain José María Olazábal are also in the field.
Justin Rose makes his Andalucia Masters debut but returns to a venue of which he has fantastic memories.
The Englishman won the season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama in 2007 after a three-way play-off with Simon Dyson and Søren Kjeldsen, a win which sealed his place at the top of the final rankings that year.
