Wednesday 30 September 2015 16:36, UK
Shane Lowry has regained his hunger for the sport after a six-week break and has targeted a strong end to the year, starting at this week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Lowry won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August but has played just once since his memorable victory at Firestone Country Club, missing the cut in the following week's US PGA Championship.
The 28-year-old has enjoyed reflecting on his success in Akron and feels the lengthy break will work in his favour in the closing stages of the season, beginning this week in Scotland.
"I'm trying to put that the back of my head, as that happened six to eight weeks ago," Lowry told a pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday. "I've had a few weeks off to enjoy that, but I'm trying to refocus for the rest of the year and kick on.
"I've watched it a couple of times since I've got home and to do something like that is always pretty special. It just gives me a lot of confidence going forward that I can do it again when I put myself in that position again.
"I've playing the last couple of years saying ifs or buts and not knowing what tournaments I'm going to be playing in, but I've cemented my place in every tournament for the next while. I'm well inside the top 50 now and it's nice to be able to sit down and play our schedule for next year."
The Irishman is one of 10 of the world's top 50 in action this week, with American Brooks Koepka and former US Open champion Martin Kaymer the highest ranked players in a strong field.
A host of celebrity players, including AP McCoy and Alessandro Del Piero play alongside the professionals for the opening three rounds, with the tournament be held across three courses; St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.
Oliver Wilson has missed the cut in all but six of his 22 starts this season, but the world No 345 is back in Scotland this week looking for a repeat of last year's shock victory.
Wilson posted an opening-round 64 last autumn on his way to a narrow one-shot win over Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Richie Ramsay, although he admits he isn't going to take his previous victory for granted as he bids for only his second career title.
"I think it's important that I remember that it's just another tournament in the sense of performance," Wilson said. "Obviously I've had a lot of good memories so I can feed off of that, but I've got to start the week from scratch like I'd do any other week.
"Just because I played well last year it doesn't mean that I'm going to do it again this year, so I've got to prepare the same.
"I know the courses very well and we've been coming here a long time. I know what to do when I'm out there, I just need to do it and perform. I need to act upon everything I'm trying to do and hopefully I'll be there at the end of the week in contention again."
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