I’ve reached the stage where I am itching to get back out on tour with a card in my hand again. Six weeks off! It seems like an age since I last played competitively but there was method in taking such a long break and I have regained my hunger and hopefully it means I will be fresh and competitive for the next few months and the run-in to the Race to Dubai.

Next week’s Alfred Dunhill Links championship – at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns – is my first time out on tour since the US PGA at Whistling Straits.

It starts what I think is a really good schedule for the rest of the year as I will play the following week’s British Masters. I’ve decided not to play in the Portugal Masters, to take a couple of weeks off, and then play four straight in the Final Series which takes in Turkey, two in China and the DP World in Dubai.

To say I am looking forward to getting back out is an understatement and I love the Dunhill, it’s a perfect event to return to playing in. I’ve been lucky in having the same partner, Gerry McManus, for all but one of the times I’ve played in it. He understands me and I understand him. You’re out there for six hours or more, long rounds, and it helps when you’re playing with someone you know.

Officially released

Sure, they are long rounds in this pro-am format and the weather can be bad, with rain and the wind gets up. I don’t mind that at all and maybe that’s one of the reasons I’ve done well in the Dunhill, two top-six finishes in the last couple of years. I’ve put in the request to be paired with Gerry again but I won’t actually know until the pairings are officially released at the gala dinner on.

The way I have worked my itinerary from now on means I have seven big tournaments left this year, six up to the final event of the season in Dubai and then the Nedbank Championship in Sun City which is part of the 2016 schedule.

I’ve missed being out on tour but the reason I took these six weeks off from playing competitively was so that I would be fresh for the rest of the year. There’ll be some guys coming back to Europe after playing in the FedEx Cup series in the US and they might be a little tired.

I am just hoping this break is going to stand to me in the last few weeks of the year and I can perform to my best. I’m hungry to get at it again.

Rory McIlroy is almost one million euro ahead of me in the Race to Dubai. I’m not sure exactly what Rory’s schedule is going to be but the way I feel is that I probably need to win at least once more this season to have a shot at catching him, which I feel is achievable.

Every tournament

In a way, it would be easy for me to sit back and live off the win I had at the Bridgestone and be happy, say “I’m a world golf champion, I have done that”, but I am not going to do that. I’m going out to try and win every tournament I play in. I am going out to shoot under par in every round I play in. I want to perform as best as I can and, if I do that, I feel I can win between now and the end of the year and possibly challenge for the Race to Dubai.

I know it will be tough to win the Race. I know I will have to play as good as golf as I have ever played to give myself a chance. I know, though, that I am hitting the ball really well. I might not have played a competitive round since Whistling Straits in August but I have been playing a lot of golf, with friends, and I’ve been working on my wedge game and if I can get my putter working for the last seven tournaments you never know what can happen.

I've been watching a lot of golf on television too and you just look at Jason Day to see how important the putter is. He's hitting it long and straight but he is holing 30- and 40-footers. Anything he's looked at, he his holing. That's what professional golf is about. If you putt well, you have got a great chance of doing well.

These are exciting times for golf, with Jason and Rory and Jordan Spieth doing what they're doing. You can throw Rickie Fowler in there too. There's a lot of guys in their 20s performing well. You've also got Danny Willett and Bernd Wiesberger playing really good golf and creeping up the world rankings.

And I am happy to be part of that group, up there in the world rankings and with a win in a big tournament. It is exciting to be part of it.

I’m looking forward to these upcoming tournaments, going out in events like the HSBC Champions in China and competing against these guys again.

I’ve enjoyed my time off.

I got into Croke Park five times in the last four weeks which was pretty cool. I love going to the games, everyone knows I’m a big fan of the GAA, and I normally wouldn’t be able to go to so many matches at this time of the year. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.

Hopefully, next year, I’ll be playing in the FedEx Cup play-offs so it was nice to do it this year.