McDowell eyes repeat win in OHL Classic

Graeme McDowell concedes that he needs to a produce a familiar performance to last year when he defends his title at the OHL Classic.

The 37-year-old claimed his first victory on the PGA Tour for two years when he took the honours in a play-off 12 months ago at Playa del Carmen.

That victory, combined with third at the following week’s RSM Classic, saw him move up from 85th to 53rd in the rankings.

However, despite five top 10s around the world in 2016, he currently sits just four places above the position he occupied 12 months ago.

McDowell admits he has found his inconsistency tough to bear this season but is hopeful that returning to Mayakoba can inspire him to another success this time around.

“It was a very important victory for me at the end of last season,” McDowell told a pre-tournament press conference. “It opened up some nice doors for me and put me in some good positions in the FedEx Cup points.

“The win last year here was very special to me on a lot of levels, and of course I’d dearly love to try and repeat it this week.

“It was great to reconfirm to myself that when I put my mind to it I can still compete at the highest level. I suppose I’m disappointed that I haven’t really kicked on in 2016 with that momentum but this year has been a funny one.”