The tournament is taking place at Royal Portrush, in McDowell's home town, but he would find it too difficult to be there if he was not playing.

The 39-year-old world number 115 has not yet won enough ranking points to qualify for the final major of 2019.

"I'm not sure I could be there for the week if I don't make it," he said.

"I'm sure I will have TV and corporate opportunities to be there, but it would be really difficult if I wasn't playing.

"I have a few commitments that I have to fulfil early in the week, but if I'm not in the tournament then I might just do those and get out of there.

"I don't think I could watch the best players in the world because I don't just want to be playing - I want to be there and be competitive.

"It's my dream to be there on the back nine on the Sunday afternoon and be in touching distance. All the Guinness in the world couldn't keep me there if I wasn't playing."

McDowell had slipped to 257th in the world rankings from a career-high fourth

Despite not currently being assured of a place in The Open, the 2010 US open champion is confident he will be playing at Royal Portrush - and even hinted he may get an exemption from the R&A.

"There are multiple ways in and I feel like I should have some kind of a shout from the R&A for an exemption if I really need one," McDowell continued.

"That is a lifeline if the worst came to the worst and I still wasn't in the field by the end of June, but I don't want to have to rely on that.

"I want to put that to one side, get my head down, play hard for the next couple of months and do everything I can to get myself in the tournament by my own rights."

In a bid to give himself every opportunity to qualify, McDowell has entered the final qualifying tournament at Royal Lytham & St Annes at the start of July.

The Portrush man, who has played in four Ryder Cups for Europe and had a career-high world ranking of fourth in 2011, ended a four-year wait for a tournament win when he lifted the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship in March.

His form and confidence dropped significantly during those four years and he admitted he feared his career could be coming to an end.

"It's all relative, but there were some low moments for sure," he added.

"I was facing the tough questions - 'am I finished?' and 'is this the end?' but I'm grateful to have a great family and great team around me who helped keep me going.

"I knew that I would miss the game if it was gone. I made a commitment to myself in the second half of last year that I was going to enjoy myself more and start embracing the game, then good things started to happen."

McDowell won silverware in the Dominican Republic in March

Pride and patriotism

With The Open returning to Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years, McDowell acknowledges how unique featuring at this year's event at his home club would be.

"It may be the proudest moment of my life (in terms of) being patriotic about where I am from," he said.

"I live in America now and I have a huge amount of respect for the patriotism of this country when it comes to their military personnel and sporting events.

"It is a special country. When they wave the flag I sometimes have regret about what I felt about where I'm from."

McDowell and his countryman Rory McIlroy have both spoken in the past about difficulties they have experienced surrounding their nationality, most notably in the run-up to the 2016 Olympics when both golfers were faced with the dilemma of whether to play for Great Britain or Ireland in Rio.

"Northern Ireland over the last 70 years is not really somewhere to be proud of," said McDowell.

"There has been some brilliant work done and it is a great place now.

"Having The Open come there and having the best player in the world come to Portrush, with millions and millions of people across the world watching the beautiful scenes from the north coast of Ireland.

"For the first time in my life it may be something that I am very, very patriotic about."

The 2019 Open at Royal Portrush takes place from 18-21 July.