Former world number one Luke Donald hopes being back at the scene of some of his biggest triumphs will kick-start his season and halt a worrying slide down the rankings.
Donald first reached top spot by beating Lee Westwood in a play-off for the BMW PGA Championship i n 2011, the year he became the first player to top the money list on both sides of the Atlantic in the same season.
The 38-year-old successfully defended the title in 2012 and also finished second in 2010 and third in 2014, but has struggled to produce that form on a consistent basis and comes into this week's event ranked 76th in the world.
That means Donald is currently not exempt for the US Open and Open Championship, events he has missed just once, through injury, since 2005, while he is a distant 24th in Ryder Cup qualifying.
"A ll weeks are good to play well at, but obviously a lot of points up for grabs and this is an event I've had some previous success at and feel comfortable around," Donald told a pre-tournament press conference.
" I would love to have a good week here. If I could even throw in a win, it would go a long way towards getting back that form that is starting to show in the past couple of months."
Donald has not won on the European Tour since that second victory at Wentworth in 2012, but was encouraged by finishing second in the RBC Heritage in April and 13th in the Valero Texas Open the following week.
"F or the first time in a year or so, I actually felt comfortable and had a lot of belief that I could win," Donald added. "I had not put myself in position enough the last year, year and a half, and to put myself in position back-to-back weeks was a big confidence booster for me.
"It was very, very helpful in terms of my mental attitude and where I thought I was in my game. It's one thing to keep working hard on your game, but if you don't see the results, it can get a little demoralising at times. But I certainly started to see that hard work pay off.
"Obviously it's a goal of mine to make the Ryder Cup team. A win this week would go a long way to get me right in the mix and I would love to make that team on my own without having to force Darren (Clarke, European captain) to make any kind of pick."
Source: PA
