Dyson delays his first look at Sandwich layout

The 33-year-old Malton professional was not even in the field for the 140th playing of the Championship this time last week, but the withdrawal of American David Toms saw him promoted from the reserve list.

The Yorkshireman’s attempts to get himself into the field had previously met with frustration at every turn.

The top 30 on the previous year’s Race to Dubai earn an exemption, and Dyson finished 34th.

Then from a mini Order of Merit in June the top two players earn a spot in the field. Dyson was nudged into third place at the final counting tournament.

That all contributed to his name being added to the reserve list, though fortunately he was spared a week of waiting by the practice range at Royal St George’s last Thursday when, on finishing his opening round at Castle Stuart, he learned of Toms’s withdrawal.

It was news he greeted with a fist pump and a delighted yell of ‘Get in’.

So tomorrow morning he tees off in his eighth Open looking for an improvement on the tied 34th position he achieved back in 2005 at St Andrew’s.

“You’re playing for the ultimate prize at the end of the day,” he said this week after jetting down from Inverness following the conclusion of the truncated Scottish Open.

“You’ve got the Masters, the US Open, all these tournaments around the world but the Open is the ultimate.

“It’s the one the British players want to win more than any other.”

Dyson finished 25th at the Scottish Open, reduced to 54 holes, but his confidence about his current form going into his first major of the year is born out of a third-place finish behind Luke Donald and Lee Westwood at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

“I’m playing pretty well right now,” said Dyson, who is 24th on the Race to Dubai thanks to the shot in the arm his performance at the flagship event earned him.

“I played decent last week and the third place at Wentworth was a great result.”

Dyson has had little time to prepare. He arrived on Monday and will play the course for the first time today.

“The wind made it difficult (yesterday),” he said. “The forecast for Thursday morning is 22-23mph that will be swirling in from a different angle, so you’re not going to gain anything.

“Everyone I spoke to said you’re better to rest up, hit the range and focus on getting 18 holes in Wednesday so that’s what I did.”