Graeme McDowell pleased with progress at Turkish Airlines Open
Friday 30 October 2015 15:02, UK
Graeme McDowell feels his game is heading in the right direction after equalling his lowest round of the European Tour season at the Turkish Airlines Open.
The Northern Irishman has dropped to world No 80 in a disappointing 2015 which has seen him fail to post a top-ten finish on either the European Tour or PGA Tour since February's Omega Dubai Desert Classic, but the Ryder Cup star has surged up the leaderboard with a bogey-free second round 65 in Antalya.
McDowell has followed a strong showing at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship with solid displays at the British Masters and Hong Kong Open in recent weeks, but has now continued his recent upturn in form to head in to the weekend within five strokes of pacesetter Jaco Van Zyl.
"I've really been enjoying this run of golf that I'm on," McDowell told Sky Sports 4. "My game has been building since August, when I took some time off after the PGA Championship and just cleared my head a little bit.
"I've had a few knock-backs over back nines on Sunday's, but just getting to those back nines has been the key and part that has been missing.
"My driver has been a little bit of a problem this year and that's usually one of my weapons, but I've been driving it much, much better in the past couple of months.
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"I'm really pleased with the progress I've been making. It has been a tough year but I'm looking to finish the year strongly and move in to 2016 with some good vibes."
Beginning nine shots adrift of Van Zyl, McDowell posted a birdie at the first and added three further gains to reach the turn in 32, before breaking into the top ten of the leaderboard with gains at the 11th, 13th and 17th.
"I played very solidly today," McDowell added. "I kind of leaked everything right yesterday, but today I drove it much better and gave myself plenty of opportunities.
"You can really go low on this course and it was nice to make some putts and make some birdies today.
"There's lots of points up for grabs in these next four weeks. I've got a lot of catching up to do and this would be the perfect opportunity to have a big weekend and get myself back up on the Race to Dubai."
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