Oh, ya beauty.
That’s the best description Open new boy Paul McKechnie had for making it to golf’s biggest tournament the circuitous way.
McKechnie had to endure a travel ordeal for regional qualifying that would have made the pampered stars of the game wince.
And after serving his time in the sport’s backwaters for a decade and more, the 37-year-old can be excused his child-in-the-sweetie-shop excitement for what he has already experienced and what is still to come.
“It feels fantastic,” he admitted. “There’s a bit of naivety when you qualify but, when you get here, it’s so special.
“You get treated like a king for a week, a wee bit different from the Challenge Tour!
“The best moment was my first practice round, walking on to the first tee. It’s a wee bit claustrophobic over there and you just think: ‘Oh, ya beauty.’ The hairs on the back of your neck just stand up.
“A contrast would be regional qualifying, when you’re standing on the first tee after very little sleep, your heart rate has gone from about 80 to 82 and you’re thinking: ‘Give me something.’
“Obviously, when you play Challenge Tour events, you don’t get many spectators in some events. So, if you’re off early on a Saturday morning, the whole thing is a bit flat.
“You come here and the atmosphere is crackling. From the first tee to the horseshoe of stands around the 18th green, it’s something else.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s the best tournament on the planet.”
McKechnie added: “I played with Sandy Lyle for my first practice round.
“The thing that struck me most was how relaxed he is. He doesn’t really bring a lot of stress and anxiety to the party!
“I grew up watching Sandy and I’ll admit I nipped his ear a wee bit about the bunker shot on 18 at Augusta, the seven iron. It was my duty.”
There’s been a whiff of destiny about McKechnie’s journey to the Open.
He reflected: “It was some journey to get to regional and I do sometimes think: ‘Oh, what would have happened if I hadn’t made that flight?”
“I had been playing in Antwerp, made the ferry by about five minutes, made my flight by two minutes, drove up the road, had about five hours’ sleep and then got up to drive through to regional qualifying in Edinburgh.
“You know, fate can have some funny turns. It had been a quiet start to the season for me, I started to get things going a wee bit on the Challenge Tour and five minutes later I’m playing in the Open.”
Over a decade after first making it on to the Challenge Tour, McKechnie is back at that level and now has the possibility of Open success ahead of him.
“It is better second time around,” he said. “You appreciate it a wee bit more.”
He added: “The big thing that I’ve noticed this week is that these guys are great golfers but they’re not superhuman, nowhere near it.
“They are what they are, they’ve only got 14 clubs and they’re hitting the same kind of balls I’m hitting.
“I’ve got a massive amount of respect for them but it’s a competition to see who can get the ball in the hole fastest, that’s it.”