Matt Wallace’s rapid rise up the golfing ladder will reach a new peak this lunchtime when he tees off at his first major championship, the US Open.

The Moor Park Golf Club professional is one of the early starters at Erin Hills in a group alongside American Ryan Palmer and Japan’s Shugo Imahira, who will begin their campaign on the tenth hole.

Few expect the 27-year-old to challenge the likes of defending champion Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy or Jordan Spieth at the 117th edition of the major – his title odds were 750-1 with some bookmakers this morning.

But he will approach the challenge of tackling the near 8,000-yard Wisconsin course with the confidence of being a seven-time winner in the past 16 months, while trying to play down the magnitude of competing in a tournament of such scale and all that goes with it as much as possible.

Wallace admitted he had hit the big time when he spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday and said: “It’s come quite quickly, but it’s just golf. I try to dumb it down as much as possible and head out there tomorrow and try to do my thing.”

The golfer's rise began last year when he won six Alps Tour tournaments and finished top of the European satellite tour’s Order of Merit by the proverbial country mile. This secured a Challenge Tour card, but the Pinner resident’s stay at that level proved to be brief as he won last month’s Open de Portugal which was co-sanctioned with the European Tour and earned his place at the top level of the sport.

Qualification for his first major followed at Walton Heath and Wallace flew out to America after securing a tie for tenth at the Lyoness Open in Austria on Sunday, his best result so far at a full European Tour event.

Wallace knows he will face different challenges at Erin Hills, not least the much publicised long rough, but he explained: “As a golfer I think you’ve got to adapt to your surroundings and the conditions and I’ve done that all of my life.

“It’s going to be long and tricky in areas, but I’ve had some great advice from players who have played in US Opens and they said you have to try and stay as calm as possible and grind it out as well as you can. I like that, as I like to grind my way around golf courses, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

The Moor Park player, who joined Chubby Chandler’s stable of golf stars last year, believes the confidence gained from now being a European Tour winner will be an asset at the US Open. But his level-headed approach to the sport again shone through as he explained: “The last day in Portugal was probably the biggest golfing day of my life because it has changed so much. It has enabled me to play the Rolex Series on the European Tour for the rest of this year and be safe in my golfing attributes and I’m feeling great.

“The confidence from that is massive and the next four days are huge. But again, I’m trying to dumb it down as much as possible as it is only golf. I’m going to try and hit the ball well and I’m going to try and hold as many putts as possible."