Andy Smith says his experience of the Open Championship at Royal St George’s has already changed his life.

Maidstone's Smith, pictured, takes to the tee alongside South African George Coetzee and Australian Brad Kennedy at 10.59am on Friday to tackle the challenging Sandwich course for the second round.

But he says no matter where he sits on the leaderboard, the events of the two weeks since he qualified at Littlestone have been momentous.

Smith said: "This week has been an incredible experience. I’ve been interviewed by so many TV stations. I’ve always pretended in my head that I was famous but it’s nice to feel like I actually am for a while. It’s just as I expected it would be."

Smith had his new Callaway clubs rebuilt on Tuesday after a practice session at the course but revealed another life-changing offer, courtesy of South African player Rory Sabbatini – who finished as runner-up in the 2007 US Masters.

Smith added: "I was practising and got talking to Rory and he said he couldn’t believe I wasn’t playing on the Tour.

"He asked why and I explained it was because of the money. Then he said he’d pay for me to go to the States to do US Tour qualifying in November."

Sabbatini also gave Smith the chance to beat the Open traffic. Instead of commuting from his Loose home following his opening round on Thursday he offered to put Smith up in a house he has rented near the course.

Picture: Barry Goodwin