Graeme McDowell looks to qualify for Open at Royal Birkdale

Graeme McDowell is hoping the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Portstewart this week will provide a passport to the Open at Royal Birkdale.

The world No 100 has played in the Open every year since making his debut in 2004 but after opting not to contest final qualifying, he must rely on claiming one of the three places up for grabs either in the Irish Open or the Scottish Open next week. He's hoping that means the first top-10 finish of a disappointing season.

McDowell said: "It's been a frustrating season for sort of all the right reasons because I've been playing well and just haven't had those big finishes which are the catalyst to more confidence and more belief.

"That's really the big piece of the puzzle that's been missing for me.

"I feel like I'm doing so many things right. I'm top 10 in driving accuracy over in the US and I feel like I'm back to putting nearly my best again."

McDowell was born just a few miles away from Portstewart in Portrush and knows the course well. One of his former maths teachers designed the front nine.

He added: "Portstewart is a golf course that I played a lot as a kid. We used to play a lot of our school's matches here and I've got a lot of good memories."

McDowell is concerned for his caddie if he fails to qualify for Royal Birkdale.

He said: "I think I might be less frustrated than my caddie would be. I think he's caddied in the last 26 Opens in a row. So if he is to miss, he would be fairly disappointed in me.

"If it doesn't happen, of course I'll be disappointed. It's just kind of been a waiting game which has tested out patience so far this season. But we'll keep chugging away".