The Open may be over for Bradley Neil, but the Blairgowrie prodigy will leave Hoylake better equipped to deal with the golfing opportunities that are still to come.
The US Amateur Championship later this year, and then the US Masters and US Open, are all still in store for the 18-year-old.
And he believes he will be tackling them with a maturity born of his Royal Liverpool experience.
There were fewer trials and tribulations for Neil yesterday than there had been the day before and, understandably, he looked far more comfortable in his surroundings.
The highlight of the two days’ play was his birdie birdie finish, which gave Neil a four over par 76 to go with his seven over par round on Thursday.
The British Amateur champion reflected: “It was a good finish to a really memorable week.
“I didn’t make the scores I was hoping to but it was my first Open and I can’t really complain too much. There were three nails in the coffin before I started today and the fourth one went in when I was three over through nine.
“Even then I didn’t give up, though, and I made three birdies on the back nine.”
He added: “Doing this once makes me want to do it again.
“I’ll take a lot of things away from here that will benefit me at Augusta and in the US Open.
“If this was me in an amateur event, I probably would have acted a lot more childishly. But you’re under such a big magnifying glass.
“Henrik Stenson snapped his club out there and that’s the sort of thing I could have done because I was pulling my hair out with some of the shots I was hitting.
“I stayed calm though. There aren’t many 18-year-olds playing the Open and I think I matured over the course of the week.
“I think I’ve acted well on and off the course.”
After a short break in Portugal, Neil will be back playing amateur tournaments, the first of which will be the Scottish Amateur Championship at Downfield the week after next.
“There’s more to come that winning the Amateur will bring, and this week was just the start,” he said.
“It was spine chilling standing on the first tee here, and walking up the 18th was fantastic as well.
“I’m sure Augusta will be the same when it comes around.“