Tyrrell Hatton credited his links experience as he fired an impressive closing 68 to finish in a tie for fifth at The 145th Open Championship.
The Englishman arrived at Royal Troon with four missed cuts from his previous four appearances in his home Major Championship but bucked that trend in spectacular fashion as he secured a four under par total.
The 24 year old has yet to win on The European Tour but has two runner-up finishes and believes his upbringing in golf was a vital factor in securing his 11th top ten this week.
"I've done well on links courses in the past," he said. "I did last week at the Scottish Open.
"I think my best performances are on links courses. So I've played a lot of links as an amateur and I've just taken that into practice."
Hatton's second-placed finish at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open last week was his best result of the season and he is now hoping to take the momentum of the last two weeks into the US PGA Championship.
"I take a lot of confidence from last week," he added. "My dad helped me out so much last week. He's my coach and I've just taken that confidence into this week and thankfully I've had another really good week.
I can't wait for the US PGA. I really enjoyed my time in the States last year at Whistling Straits - Tyrrell Hatton
"But I'm going to enjoy a week off now and then get ready for the next Major."
World Number Four Rory McIlroy signed for a 67 on the final day on the Ayrshire coast to finish alongside Hatton, and he too is targeting New Jersey as he goes in search of a fifth Major triumph.
"I feel like with the conditions that I faced this week I played pretty well," he said. "There were a few mistakes in there and if I could take back anything it would probably be the first nine holes yesterday. I didn't get off to the greatest of starts.
"But with what I had to play in, there's no way I would have gotten the scores that the leading guys are on. So I feel like I've done pretty well this week considering everything.
Tee to green was good and I can only be positive going into Baltusrol - Rory McIlroy
"I'm playing well. I'm driving the ball great. I think that's a big thing, especially with the PGA coming up. The PGAs are usually, if you can drive the ball well, you'll do well and I've had success in that tournament before so I'm really happy with that.
"I'll go there feeling pretty good about myself."
