Lee Westwood is entering The Open Championship optimistic he can contend as he hopes to have cleared the "mental block" he had at Royal St George's.
The 48-year-old fell away from a promising position at the Scottish Open last week but is confident his game is in a good place.
Westwood missed the cut in 2003 and 2011 when the tournament was last played at the Kent links, but he has attempted to banish those memories for the last major of 2021.
"Coming into this week, I've played here twice in the Open Championship, missed the cut both times," he said.
"Kind of had it in my head, a bit of a mental block that I didn't like the golf course, but I played it [on Tuesday] and really enjoyed it.
"I loved the way it was set up. I couldn't really remember the golf course too much, probably because I didn't have that much experience of playing on it, only having played two rounds each Open.
"I really enjoyed it. Enjoyed the conditions and it sort of turned my head around and made me look forward to the week even more really.
"I'm positive and hoping I can find some form and get into contention. Like all links tournaments, you need a little bit of luck with the weather, you need some good breaks.
"I did win around here as an amateur, so I've had some kind of form around here in the past. I'm just trying to look at it more positively than I've missed two cuts.
"There will be underlying facts there; I might not have been playing well or my head might not have been in the right place.
"I feel like if I get my game where it needs to be and it's good for that week, I can contend."
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 14, 2021
Phil Mickelson won the US PGA Championship to become the oldest major champion at the age of 50 this year.
Westwood was therefore asked if that meant he still had hope of winning one as he prepares to make his 88th major appearance.
He said: "We're from a generation that's maybe had the benefit of sports medicine and maybe a little bit more analytical, knowing what's going on.
"Tiger [Woods] came on the scene and everybody sort of took that a little bit more seriously mid to late '90s. All the other players that wanted to get ahead of the game sort of looked to him.
"Rather than [golf being an] 'I've been working out for six months thing' and 'this is a quick-fix thing', it's a long-term thing with the likes of myself and Phil, Stewart Cink, people like that playing.
"Look at Bernhard Langer – he's playing well into his 60s because he's looked after himself 30 years ago, not because he started going in the gym three weeks ago.
"Mine and Phil's generation are now reaping the benefits of the hard work for the last 20 years, analysing movements in the swing and working on injury prevention to those parts of the body that get injured."
