McDowell looking to overhaul Kaymer's advantage

McDowell trails Kaymer by nearly 250,000 and is the only man who can prevent the German from succeeding Lee Westwood in winning the Race to Dubai.

He said: "After the Ryder Cup I could have probably put my feet up and taken 80 for the rest of the year.

"I'd still have looked back and said 'great season, dream season', but I didn't want to do that."

First prize in Dubai is nearly 777,000, while the Order of Merit winner scoops 932,024, sums of money that could only be dreamt of in 1977 when Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson fought out the 'duel in the sun' in pursuit of the Open Championship at Turnberry.

"We're talking about some big numbers here this week and of course the financial incentives are very nice," said McDowell, who described himself as a racehorse in pursuit of PGA Champion Kaymer.

"If you put it in horse racing expressions, he's had a 25-length lead and I'm coming up the inside rail now. We've got one fence left and I feel like I'm coming strong.

"I want to look Martin in the eye and say 'Let's go',

"We still have a pretty good image of Lee on the 18th green last year and we both want to be that guy."

Westwood cannot defend his European No 1 status and may also lose his grip on the world's top spot, should Kaymer triumph at the Earth Course.

The 37-year-old from Worksop won this event last year at a canter but is not expecting to have it so easy this week.

"How did I shoot 23 under around here was going through my mind," said Westwood after a practice round. "I have to be careful not to get caught up in trying to achieve what I achieved last year."