Marcus Kinhult hopes a return to the scene of past success will inspire him to challenge for his second DP World Tour title at the Cazoo Classic.
The Swede secured his maiden Tour title at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Tommy Fleetwood at Hillside Golf Club during a breakthrough campaign in 2019 as he finished 12th in the season-long rankings.
Kinhult produced a birdie-birdie finish to win by one shot ahead of defending champion Eddie Pepperell, Robert MacIntyre and Matt Wallace after a dramatic final day in Southport.
And while the 25-year-old is expecting a different challenge, with this week’s event held in summer compared to May when he won three years ago, he is already feeling “good vibes”.
“It’s great to be back,” Kinhult said. “Just seeing the 18th hole has brought back some great memories from 2019. It’s a special place.
“It was my first win and only win so far. It’s a great memory. Battling down the stretch on Sunday was nice. I had been in contention a couple of times before but that time I managed it better and got the job done.
“[Winning] is always the goal. I spoke to some of the members at Hillside and they said that some changes have been made since 2019. I can see that the first hole looks a little different.
“It’s like 25 degrees warmer this time, so I think it is going to play a little firmer and faster. But I am sure the place is very similar; the good vibes will be there.”
Just seeing the 18th hole has brought back some great memories from 2019. It’s a special place.
Kinhult missed almost four months of action on Tour last season following an epileptic seizure during a practice round in Spain in April, but he made a full recovery and has already registered two top tens so far this season in Kenya and Qatar.
He has missed the cut in his last three events but is adamant he is not far from reaching the heights that saw the 2017 Challenge Tour Graduate make such an eye-catching start to his career on the DP World Tour.
“A lot has happened since the last time I was here in 2019 for me personally but also around the world [with the Covid-19 pandemic],” he said.
“I am still trying my best and I feel overall I am trending in the right direction.
“It is not a straight line. It goes up and down like for everyone, but I am feeling a lot better than I did last year so hopefully I can maintain that progress and build this week and for the rest of the season. Hopefully that will pay off in the long run.”
