I did well last year finishing second and although I was never really challenging for victory this time I played nicely and feel much more positive about the run-in to the end of the season.

A bad start probably did it for me. I had a first round 73 which put me about seven behind the leaders and again I threw in a big number which has happened to me a few times this season.

It was just one bad shot but it meant I ran up an eight and It’s difficult to come back from there. But I was pleased with my response and the second day 65 was a better reflection of my game and a few putts were holed for a change.

My stats on the greens are still nothing to get excited about but I’m certainly rolling the ball better which is half the battle.

A top 30 finish and a cheque for 33,000 euros was a fairly good week’s work so now we move onto the Bankia Madrid Masters where hopefully I can build on my progress.

Two bad holes wrecked what could have been a very good fortnight. I had a 9 in Switzerland after I smacked a ball out of bounds and dropped right down the field when was in the top ten.

Then I missed the cut in Holland by a shot when I threw in a 7 after getting behind a tree, didn’t manage to get out with my first shot, and I three-putted.

It’s frustrating but I know I’m playing well so I won’t beat myself up about it.

Next up is a charity event at Archerfields in Scotland which is organised by our new Open champion Darren Clarke and cricket legend Ian Botham.

After that is The Dunhill and I have high hopes of success having finished runner-up last year. The target is to go one better this time.

My mate Alan Smith, the Newcastle footballer who used to play for Manchester United has been on the phone to give me a bit of a gee up and I really appreciated that. Smudger has had his ups and downs in the game but always tries to look on the positive side.

He told me that if you are playing a sport you’ve loved since you are a kid you have to try and enjoy it and not get too uptight.

I think I have been guilty of that this season but when you keep getting yourself in good positions and then your putting let’s you down as has happened to me too often it can be difficult to stay optimistic.

I experimented with the belly putter last week and it was fine in practise but on the course it just wasn’t working. I scrapped it after my first round of 77 and would have got rid of it even earlier if I could.

The problem is a confidence one and if I can hole a few I think it will come right with the conventional putter.

There’s still plenty of tournaments left but I must start challenging again and quickly.

Having missed the cut myself I watched the last two days from my armchair and thought Darren held it together so well. At one point it looked like Phil Mickelson might nick it or maybe Dustin Johnson but Darren didn’t falter and it’s another fairy story for golf in Northern Ireland.

There should be quite an atmosphere when we play the Irish Open in Killarney next week.

As for me, I don’t know if I should blame myself, the weather, the fact we don’t have a ten-shot rule anymore, bad luck or what for things going wrong at St George’s

I had a great first day shooting one under in difficult conditions but had to go out in the toughest of the weather the next day too and it just drifted away from me a little bit.

Even then, had the wind not dropped for the later finishers, I’m sure my four over total would have got me in the for the weekend but it wasn’t to be.

At one time there was a rule whereby if you were within ten shots of the leader you qualified for the weekend but that was scrapped because sometimes there were too many players in the last two rounds.

It does seem harsh though that I, like quite a number of others including Lee Westwood, missed out despite being within eight shots of the top. With the way the conditions were anything was possible and a couple of 68s to follow would likely have got me a top ten.

I played nicely but didn’t hole a couple of important putts in the run-in which would have made all the difference.

No use crying about it now though. I reckon I need a top two in Ireland to qualify for the USPGA by being in the World’s top 100 and I still believe I’m capable of it.

There’s a fair bit of the season to go with 16 tournaments left and it’s still perfectly possible to turn an ordinary season into a good one.

“I drove it well all round and that’s the key round here,” he told BBC Sport.

Willett made his first birdie of the day at the par-five seventh, dropped one at the ninth, then got it back at the next.

And, although he bogeyed 13, he got his final birdie of the round at the 496-yard par four 15th – and a long putt for par at 18 ensured that he completed his round in red figures.

“But I’ve just got try and do the dame again as we pretty much stuck to our game plan .

“I’ve not been nervous all week, although it’s a bit different though when you finally get on the first tee and they announce your name.

“But I played pretty well and the same again tomorrow will do me.”
For full article please visit news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/14156495.stm

We can pretend all we like that it’s just another week at the office, that one tournament is the same as any other but it isn’t, the Majors are in a different league.

Even turning up on Monday afternoon at Royal St George’s I could feel the atmosphere building as I visited my sponsors Callaway for a tune up before the competition starts.

St George’s holds special memories for me because it is where I won the English Amateur Championship four years ago so not surprisingly I quite like the course. I’ve always been comfortable with links golf and just going out for a few practice holes my game feels good and I think I’m going to enjoy myself.

Last week in Scotland was something of a trial with the stop-start nature of the event in terrible conditions which forced it to be reduced to 54 holes.  I played pretty well and though I was just outside the top 30 the field was very close together apart from winner Luke Donald who is in incredible form right now.

The delays meant I missed my flight out of Inverness on Sunday which wasn’t great given we had to get to the South East of England for The Open. My dad drove me the seven hours back home to Sheffield and then I was up early the next morning to drive myself the next five hours to Sandwich.

I’ve got the earliest of starts on Thursday going out first at 6.30am which isn’t the kindest of draws but I had good practice for it in Scotland. I was up at 4am on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday because of the rain delays so my body clock will have adjusted quite nicely.

I’m not putting pressure on myself this week, I’m just going to go out there and keep doing what I’ve been doing last week. The swing is in the zone and if I can get some putts rolling in you never know what might happen.

We play the game for weeks like this one, it gets the adrenalin flowing even at such an ungodly hour when I’m teeing off.

I’ll need a bit of luck as everyone does if they are to have a good tournament but I reckon I’m owed some. There couldn’t be a better time for it all to come together.

It would be fair to say my performance in France last week wasn’t clever. I had two 77s and not surprisingly missed the cut.

But I had an eight in the first round and lost some focus and couldn’t get it back together.

It’s a tough course where you can easily rack up some big numbers. Thomas Levet took the trophy with seven under and it’s rare for a regular tour event to be won by so few under par. That shows the Paris track is a good choice for the 2018 Ryder Cup.

While it’s a difficult test it’s very fair and the last five holes will make for a great finish when Europe host the US there.
Hopefully by then I will be in the team but I’ve got to buck my ideas up and this fortnight can show what I’m about.
There’s no pressure on me to qualify for The Open because I’m already in through my ranking last season. So I’ve just got to out, lighten up a bit, and enjoy myself.

Last week’s performance where I finished inside the top 25 in Munich was much needed after a difficult few weeks in which I missed the cut at the Welsh Open and the PGA at Wentworth.

As I keep saying, it’s all about the putting and I got a couple to drop in my first round in Germany where I shot a 66. Sadly they didn’t drop in the second round and a 74 left me too much to do to challenge for the title.

But I played solidly to finish the weekend and now I’m looking forward to the French Open in Paris. I like the course and finished fifth there last year so I’m going to be confident.

I should add belated congratulations to my old mate Rory McIlroy who blew the opposition away to win the US Open. After his collapse in the final round at The Masters, he showed so much character to come out at the next major and play so brilliantly.

This is a fantastic time for British golf and Rory has set the standard for us all to try and follow.

I went out on day one in the worst of the weather, got some bad breaks and didn’t do so badly to get round in five over par.

On one hole the ball nestled next to a ditch after a shocker of a bounce and I had virtually no stance at all. I got it going forward but hit a bridge and it rebounded into the water.

I never really got things back together after that and missed the cut by quite a few although I don’t feel the score reflected the way I hit the ball.

Anyway I have to put that experience behind me and concentrate on the Saab Wales Open at Celtic Manor.

I reckon there may be a little more attention on my group than usual on the first day because I’m playing with Big John Daly, the former USPGA and Open champion. Ok maybe he’s not quite as big as he was but he still hits the ball a hell of a long way and is one of the game’s great characters.

It should be an experience for me and the spectators. Making up the three-ball is another ex-major champion Michael Campbell, who won the US Open in 2005.

You could be overawed in such company but hopefully I will thrive off being paired with players who have done it at the very top.

Wish me luck.