Robert MacIntyre admitted that he is as relaxed as he's ever been heading into a Major following last week's Genesis Scottish Open victory.
The Scot will lead home hopes this week at Royal Troon just a week removed from becoming the first Scottish player to win their national Open in 25 years at The Renaissance Club.
Already enjoying his most successful season to date, MacIntyre was quick to tell media that the addition of being surrounded by family and friends combined with reaching new heights in the game over the past 12 months mean he is headed into The Open with a very relaxed outlook.
"It's probably the most relaxed [I've been]," MacIntyre said of his attitude coming into The 152nd Open.
"Last week I was absolutely chilled out. All week I was as relaxed as I've ever been for the Scottish Open, for a golf tournament, to be honest. There was no nerves. There was nothing going on. I was just trying to enjoy myself as much as I can.
"Coming here, it's the exact same again. I'm very relaxed and enjoying time with friends and family back at the house when I'm not on the golf course and enjoying time with my team when I'm on the golf course.
"Mike's been a big part of that. He's a great laugh. We just, when we're on the golf course, yeah, we're trying our best to play as well as we can but go out there and have fun."
A big part of that attitude has also come with the confidence he has gained through his recent ascendency in the game, having been the best performing rookie during Europe's victory at the 2023 Ryder Cup and claiming victories on both the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour this season.
MacIntyre, who recently spoke of his plans to return to keep his base in Scotland after being vocal and honest about finding the transition to spending more time out in America difficult, has firmly found his feet on the global stage in recent months.
His victory at the RBC Canadian Open with his dad on his bag as his caddie was proof of that, and has proved undoubtedly to be a big turning point in his already established career.
Yet while that helped unlock a new attitude for him, he admitted that it was his struggle playing in the final group at the Myrtle Beach Classic earlier in the year and a top ten at the US PGA Championship that really helped him understand what to do - and not do - coming down the stretch on a Sunday.
"There's been a lot of learning experiences this year. If I didn't have the experiences at Myrtle Beach and the US PGA [Championship], Canada wouldn't have happened, and if I didn't have them three experiences, Sunday wouldn't have happened.
"To be honest, Myrtle Beach taught me not to try and win golf tournaments. Lower the expectation. I teed it up on Sunday at Myrtle Beach, and my goal was to win the golf tournament. I birdied the 1st, everything's great. I double bogeyed the 2nd. Then I think the golf tournament's gone.
"The minute you think that, your emotions are all over the place. You lose all control of yourself. You lose thought process, touch, everything, you lose it.
"Then the US PGA, I did the complete opposite. I thought, I have a chance, but my job was not to do what I'd done at Myrtle Beach. That was just stay in the fight, stay calm. I didn't play my best at the PGA, but then you play the last hole unbelievably, and you jump in the top 10. That was a real light switch that made me think, you know what, the golf game isn't the problem. I'm the problem.
"Then in Canada I'm obviously in a great position all week, and I just stayed calm. Obviously my dad helped me with that. Then the same last week, was just -- there was obviously so much hype, on Sunday especially, and my job was just to stay calm and hit the golf shots that were required at the time. I done that, and thankfully everything kind of fell my way. That's all.
"There's no magic recipe to it. It's just stay out of my own way.
"It's just about on a Sunday of a golf tournament, just stay in the fight and don't get too high, don't get too low. I mean, probably on the 10th hole everyone thought I was out of the golf tournament except me and Mike. No one was running away with it. The weather was kind of getting a little bit iffy.
"For me, it's all about a learning experience. It all comes back to the experiences I've had in the past. Canada, I remember -- I mean, when I holed that putt on 16 for eagle last week, yeah, I gave a little fist pump, but it wasn't too high, wasn't too low, it was just kind of, right, we're back in the game here.
"In Canada, I remember I was getting a bit of jip on the 10th hole in the final round. All the way up to the 11th hole, I was getting some stick. Canadian fans are always wanting Mackenzie Hughes to win it. And I've holed that putt, I think it's to go four or five ahead, but they'd been giving it all the way up the hole, which is totally fine. I loved it. And I gave probably the biggest fist pump I've done in my career, in my life, and then I've hit the worst 4-iron I've ever hit in my life.
"Again, I just learned from that, and I knew the minute you get too high or low, you lose all the fine motor skill, you lose all the touch, and I wasn't going to allow that to happen last week. It's just about learning from the good or the bad. It's just keep on taking them steps forward."
Now up to a career high of 16th in the Official World Golf Ranking, the knock-on effect of those learning experiences has been a gain in confidence that he belongs among the best in the world, which he proved in front of home fans on Sunday.
"It wasn't really until you win in Canada that you really feel like I can compete out here fully. I think it's just an attitude thing. You're not given anything out here. You've got to earn it. You've got to earn the respect of the guys you've looked up to for many years.
"I feel like the Ryder Cup was an eye opener for me that I realised the majority of these guys, all of them, are just normal guys, especially guys on the European team that I've really gotten along well with and I continue to have a good relationship with them.
"It wasn't until probably then I realised, you know what, if these guys can do it, I can do it."
It was that mentality that helped him to his victory in Scotland, which came with a final-hole birdie in front of home fans to edge out Adam Scott and claim the title he said he had always wanted.
And while outside expectations might be higher heading into the year's final Major - particularly considering it has also been 25 years since a Scot won The Open - MacIntyre is keen to temper those and instead put focus purely on his golf game.
"I feel totally different," he responded when asked how differently he feels coming into this year's Open in comparison to his tie for sixth during his debut at Royal Portrush in 2019.
"2019, I was going to Portrush. I knew the golf course well. A lot of people didn't know that, and I really liked the golf course from playing home internationals there. I didn't have any expectation of anything; after five or six holes I was leading The Open. Then I got a shock. I was like, what's going on here?
"But this week I'm turning up the same as last week. Obviously last week the results showed, but this week is about going out there, being at home, having the home support. It's about going out there and performing as best as I can, trying my best. Hopefully come Sunday I've got a chance, and that's all I want.
"There's no expectation for myself from my team around me other than give 110 percent. It's the same. Zero expectation. My game's in a good place."
