CHORLEY’s Nick Dougherty has revealed he is annoyed with himself for not taking a short break away from golf ahead of tomorrow’s Open Championship.

The 27-year-old Chorley golfer won the BWM International Open in Munich three weeks ago and felt in the mood to keep that form going right through to Turnberry.

Instead he finished 21st in the French Open, then 76th at the Scottish Open, and the 26-year-old does not believes he was performing at his best.

“Maybe I should have thought about taking some time off after winning,” said Dougherty after his closing 76 at Loch Lomond.

“You do feel different after a win and I’ve not quite mastered it yet. That’s made me feel quite angry at the moment.

“I just wish I hadn’t played the Scottish. I was very lucky to make the cut and I used the weekend to work on my game, but I would not say I made much progress.

“I’ve not done myself justice the last two weeks.”

Dougherty would be the first to agree he has not done himself justice in The Open either.

His debut came close to home at Hoylake in 2006, but he was in the middle of an horrendous run of 10 successive missed cuts then.

At Carnoustie two years ago he was 42nd, while at Birkdale last July he was still struggling to come to terms with the sudden death of his mother Ennis and although he played all four rounds, the last two of them were 79 and 77 and dropped him to joint 78th of the 83 players who survived the cut.

Meanwhile, world number one Tiger Woods is in buoyant mood as he prepares for this week’s Open.

The American has already won three tournaments since returning to action in February after knee surgery and his quest for a 15th major title begins tomorrow.

After finishing sixth in both The Masters and US Open, Woods said: “I’ve not won a major, but I’ve come close.

“I’ve put myself in position and just haven’t done it. But three wins this year – it’s been a tremendous success.”

A year ago, Woods was recovering from knee surgery as Padraig Harrington lifted the Claret jug at Birkdale.

The 33-year-old added: “What Paddy did was pretty phenomenal – a back-nine 32 I believe when it really mattered. He had to shoot a number and he did.”