Matt Ford wants to do himself justice when he takes part in The Open for the first time in his career this week.

The 44-year-old from Bearsted competes in the 150th Open at St Andrews from Thursday with no expectations of competing for the Claret Jug among a star-studded field.

Ford’s aims are quite simple - keep smiling throughout and enjoy the occasion.

“Keep a smile on my face - that’s it, really,” said Ford, who represents CK Group. “I’m not going to put any labels on what’s success or not.

“I’m just going out there to enjoy it and keep a smile on my face, which should be pretty easy for me to do.

“I feel I’ve been playing decent. I’m not going to say I expect to be competing to win but I want to do myself proud, really. What that actually means, I don’t know.

“I’m just looking forward to playing some good golf and keeping a smile on my face.

“It’s a case of knuckling down, really. It has sunk in, but I’ll still be taking quite a few double takes for sure and I wouldn’t be normal if I wasn’t doing that.

“I can’t expect to feel normal because it’s not normal for me, but it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it and play some good golf.”

Ford qualified for The Open at Prince’s just over a fortnight ago.

He’s had big days already in his career but this week will top the lot by some distance.

“It’s been amazing and a new experience,” said Ford. “I’ve played the BMW at Wentworth a few times now which is probably the second-biggest event in the UK behind The Open. But this is definitely a step up and I haven’t been in that scenario for a while.

“It’s been a case of getting used to that again, lots of people being around, people asking for autographs - even from me!

“You get lots of people on the practice ground watching when you’re trying to focus on what you’re doing.

“After I qualified, I went to Italy and played in the Challenge Tour. I was supposed to play last week but I pulled out to give myself some rest. I went to Prince’s for a couple of days’ practice and then headed up here on Saturday and Sunday.

“It’s been a bit of links practice and a bit of recovery time ahead of what’s going to be a full-on week, and then I’ve got a run of DP World events after this as well.

“I played 18 holes on Monday, nine on Tuesday and will do another nine on Wednesday so I’ve had a good look at the course.”

Hot and dry conditions mean the links course at St Andrews may not bare its teeth as sharply as in previous years.

It’s still going to be a challenge, but Ford believes it could suit his game.

“I imagine the R&A were hoping for this weather, maybe they wanted a bit more wind, though,” he said.

“It’s not like there’s going to be no wind. The rough is up but it’s so dry that I don’t think you’ll lose balls in there, it will just be difficult to get it close to the flag.

“The fairways are brown so the ball is just running on, and that will make it hard to stay on the fairways and bunkers will come more into play.

“The greens were pretty soft on Monday but I’d imagine they will firm up as the week goes on and that will make it difficult to get close to the pin.

“There are some holes that are playing pretty short but you may not still be able to get it close to the hole.

“I’m looking forward to it and I think it’s going to give players like myself a bit more chance as the long hitters are probably not going to get that much of an advantage. They may get closer to some of the holes, but it’s going to run all over the place.

“The conditions hopefully will suit me but I’ve still got to hit the fairways, hit good approach shots and hole putts. With a good strategy and then executing it then I feel it gives me a chance.

“It’s not like I’m playing a very long, soft golf course with loads of big, juicy rough that would make it difficult for me as one of the shorter hitters.”

While Ford admitted he’s having to pinch himself as he warms up alongside the likes of newly-crowned US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, it’s been an amazing week already for his children, Teagan and Oscar.

They’re missing only two autographs - Tiger Woods and their dad!

“I’ve got my family here as well and they’re super excited,” said Ford. “The kids have got 100-odd signatures each and loads of flags and caps so there’s been a lot going on.

“The only one they haven’t got is Tiger Woods, they’ve got pretty much everyone else. Bryson DeChambeau was really good, Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy were really good, Tony Finau as well so I give credit to the guys as the majority of them have been really good to the kids, given them photos and time for signatures.

“The kids are having potentially the best week of their lives, I’d imagine. They asked me for an autograph but I said no, so they were a little bit disappointed when I was giving my signature to other people! I’m going to have to sign it but I feel they don’t really need mine.”

Ford will tee off at 11.15am on Thursday alongside Alexander Bjork and fellow debutant Oliver Farr. They are the last trio out on Friday, getting their second round under way at 4.16pm.