Tommy Fleetwood believes playing at the Portugal Masters will help his preparation for next week's U.S. Open Championship despite knowing the test he will face in Vilamoura is very different to what awaits him at the second Major Championship of the year.
The Englishman is back at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course for the first time since 2016 this week, having previously played five editions in a row from 2012.
Fleetwood has not been in tournament action for the last two weeks and sees this event as the perfect opportunity to return to the European Tour and play some competitive rounds before heading to Winged Foot Golf Club for the U.S. Open.
Geoff Ogilvy won with a score of five over par when the U.S. Open was last held at Winged Foot in 2006, while Steven Brown's 17 under par was good enough for victory in Portugal last year, showing the difference in difficulty between the two courses.
But Fleetwood is convinced getting more tournament golf under his belt will be beneficial.
He said: "I played last year at Pebble Beach and it was the first change in the way the schedules worked and I had three weeks off before. I came off and said 'I won't do that again', I thought it was too much and I felt like I wasn't quite as sharp as I'd like to be.
"So I thought 'I'm not going to do that again' and then ran out of time, didn't really play that great in America so I was cut short in the FedEx (Cup).
"The Portugal Masters was an ideal opportunity to get some competitive golf in and come back on the European Tour, which I haven't been to for a while.
"I haven't played particularly great for a few weeks. I've gone back and worked on some things.
"I think when guys play the week before - and to be honest I don't do it a lot, I've always thought I prefer getting to Majors early but this year clearly things are very different - it's about hitting shots.
"It's all well and good practising and playing at your leisure but I think in a tournament environment actually picking a spot, hitting it and seeing how that feels - and by the way I've never been to a tournament that I don't want to win and this week is exactly that, I would love to compete this week - I learn from certain shots that I hit.
"I might push some shots in a right to left wind or I might over borrow on a certain putt or something and you only figure those things out by playing competitively.
"I think wherever you are, holing two, three, four, five foot putts in a tournament environment makes a massive difference and I think what I'll lose for being maybe at the U.S. Open a day late, I'll have gained for having that competitive feel to it.
"It's a different test completely, but I think a golf shot is a golf shot in a way, and seeing how I play this week and putting those feels that I've done in practice for a few days now, trying to get myself back to somewhere where I feel really comfortable on the golf course, I think it's perfect to try and test it out this week."
Fleetwood's best finish at the Portugal Masters came in 2014 when the event was shortened to 36 holes due to the weather conditions, coming joint 12th.
He is excited to be back at a regular European Tour event for the first time since the four month hiatus due to coronavirus.
"I've never had a run at the tournament but I still feel like I've always enjoyed coming here, I think the hotel's great," said Fleetwood.
"The course is different this year. There's a bit of rough up, so it's a tougher test.
"But I just think it was the perfect scenario for me. It's great coming back and seeing everybody that you've played with for a long, long time.
"The European Tour definitely, for us that have grown up on the Tour, has a beautiful atmosphere to it. We're in a bubble right now but as soon as you sort of come back there's a feel about it that is really, really nice."
