Ross McGowan believes Europe will go into the Ryder Cup as favourites, as he looks towards being part of the competition for the first time, writes Kaylee Seckington.

With McGowan moving up to 63rd in the world, an inclusion in this year's Ryder Cup squad is a real possibility, but the 27-year-old believes Europe's golfing talents are plentiful.

"The Ryder Cup squad is definitely something I will be striving for until the end of the season," he said.

"It's a strange time at the minute because there aren't any competitions in Europe, but I have another competition in Florida in a couple of weeks and so am staying in America.

"I think it's the most difficult year for the European golfers to qualify for the Ryder Cup squad, because there are so many good European golfers at the minute.

"It's quite an exciting time for European golf. It's probably one of the few times we will go into the Ryder Cup as favourites."

McGowan is taking his success in his stride after causing a shock by beating number two seed Steve Stricker in the first round of the Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona.

However the Banstead-based golfer was confident of victory.

"I wasn't really surprised to beat Steve. I've been playing well recently. It was a strange game though, only held over 18 holes and we both had chances to win, so it was very good to get through and I was unlucky not to get further, but Ryo Ishikawa played very well," he said from Florida.

With 15 per cent of entrants in the Arizona competition English and further competitors from Ireland, British golf appears to be on the rise, and McGowan puts this down to the work of the governing bodies.

"The British and Irish golfing boards have done a lot of work over the last 15 or 20 years to improve the game," he said.

"British golf has been on the rise for the last five or six years. Luke McDonald and Paul Casey left the amateur game just as I was getting into the ranks, so there is a couple of generations there and there is obviously the new breed like Ross Fisher.

"Golf has more variables than in sports like tennis where you are always up against the same guys. Golf is a much more level playing field where anyone can beat anyone else on their day. You're playing the course, not just the individual."