McDowell aims to continue hot run at Birkdale

SOUTHPORT (Reuters) - Buoyed by his two-shot victory at the Scottish Open on Sunday, Graeme McDowell has high hopes for this week's British Open.

The 28-year-old Briton has recorded three top-10 finishes in his last five starts on the European Tour and loves the Open challenge of links-course golf.

"There's no substitute for winning," the Northern Irishman told reporters at Royal Birkdale on Tuesday. "The confidence and momentum coming into a week like this are hugely important.

"My game has been good for quite a while now and it's always nice to get some rewards. I'm very happy with the way things have been going, obviously."

A double winner on the 2008 European Tour, McDowell believes he has benefited this season from astute scheduling.

"I've really paced myself this year," he said. "I've been feeling very fresh mentally and physically and it's been great to kind of keep going and have some really consistent golf at this time of the season because it's busy.

VERY FRESH

"This is the time of the year when guys start hitting the wall. They play a lot of golf and it's really easy to play yourself into a bit of a tizzy.

"I've managed to schedule myself really well to where I feel I'm very fresh at this point."

McDowell, who won the Ballantine's Championship in South Korea in March, has always made the British Open his top priority.

"Out of all the four majors, this is probably the one I feel I've got the game to win," he said. "With my upbringing in Portrush, links golf has always been in my blood a little bit.

"I'm a pretty good wind player and certainly my short game comes flooding back to me when I get on to links turf like this, the bump-and-runs.

"Hopefully I've left something in the tank a little bit. If it keeps blowing like this it's going to be a tough test and the golf course is set up pretty difficult."

The 137th British Open starts on Thursday.

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)