The excitement remains high but the expectation levels have changed for Matt Wallace as he prepares to play in his second US Open.

The Moor Park-attached professional rounded off a memorable May last year by qualifying for his first major championship, having achieved his European Tour card earlier that month by winning the Open de Portugal.

The 28-year-old failed to make the cut at Erin Hills, but after again successfully coming through qualifying at Walton Heath on Monday, he will have the experience of 12 months ago, the knowledge of his support team and an impressive 2018 to date to call upon when he tees off at Shinnecock Hills on Thursday.

“It’s a little bit different, isn’t it,” Wallace responded when asked to compare this US Open qualification with 2017. “I played really nice on Monday and I’m going there now to play instead of just turn up, and hopefully I’m going there to compete.

“I feel good, my game’s in a good place at the moment, I’ve got a great caddie [Dave McNeilly] whose been there [Shinnecock Hills] before with Nick Price. He knows it well, he’s experienced and he knows a lot of the American guys as well so that will help me.

“I’ll understand the enormity of it now, I’m not new to it all, I played in the feature group at Wentworth [the PGA Championship] which is the European Tour’s biggest tournament, so I’m ready to go out there. I feel comfortable, I feel confident and I’ve just got to do my preparation and play as well as possible.”

Wallace was the new boy on the European Tour block when he made his major championship debut, but fast forward 12 months and he will head to the New York course currently ranked 90th in the world and 20th in the Race to Dubai standings, having won his second European Tour title at the Hero Indian Open in March and finishing in a tie for third at the Volvo China Open the following month.

The six-time 2016 Alps Tour winner travelled to Walton Heath after coming in a share of 51st at the Italian Open the previous day. But a strong finish to his final round in Brescia, coupled with a desire to right some wrongs, put him in a positive frame of mind for the qualifying tournament.

He explained: “I tried to play a couple of the last holes in Italy like I was going to do a bit of practice for Walton Heath – I think I was five-under for the last seven holes – so I was happy.

“I spoke to Dave a lot about my body language because I wanted to change how it was coming off Italy and I did that really well on Monday. I must have made five or six bogeys but every time I wasn’t slumped, I was back up and ready to go again on the next tee and I think that really helped and I got through comfortably in the end.”

Wallace ultimately had a two-shot safety margin in the 36-hole qualification event, finishing in a share of seventh to secure on the 14 places that were up for grabs at Shinnecock Hills, but he needed his quality to shine through when it was required to establish that position.

Following a five-under-par opening round, Wallace remained on that score and was “under a bit of pressure” when he put his tee shot on the par five 14th into a fairway bunker. But after getting out of the sand, he hit a superb three iron to six foot from the pin to make birdie.

Admitting his “long irons have been brilliant for me this year”, he delivered again on the par five 16th after hitting a two iron 30 feet from the hole and then two putting for another birdie to move to seven-under.

But as Wallace relaxed in the clubhouse and savoured the prospect of qualifying for his second major, the realisation of another ambition was to dawn on him.

“And then it clicked,” he smiled, “Oh my God, Tiger’s going to be there…I’m going to be playing in the same tournament as Tiger. I’ve never done that and I’ve always wanted to do it.”

Tiger is, of course, Tiger Woods and following his extensive injury problems, the 14-time major winner and three-time US Open champion is set to compete in the tournament for the first time since 2015.

Wallace is hoping the fact both McNeilly and his coach Robert Rock know Woods will pay off “so hopefully I can get a picture and maybe play with him on Saturday and Sunday because I don’t think I’ll be drawn with him the first couple of days”.

But one tournament Wallace is consciously trying not to think about qualifying for any longer is the Ryder Cup.

The Moor Park professional’s strong year has led to him thinking he could make Thomas Bjorn’s 12-strong team for the showdown with the United States in Paris in September – the European Tour team will comprise the top four players from the European points list, followed by the leading four on the World points list and four wild cards – but he says that is no longer the case.

“It’s been brilliant,” Wallace said of his 2018 to date, “but I’m taking every day as it comes and the old cliché of taking every shot as it comes. It genuinely is becoming more like that.

“I played with Lee Westwood and Robert Karlsson last week and I get asked by journalists and the media every single week Ryder Cup this, Ryder Cup that and I’ve got it into my head it’s an opportunity, but in actual fact I’m so far away from it I need to stop thinking about it.

“I need to play really, really good golf to get in it. I don’t think I’d get a (captain’s) pick, I think I’d have to play my way on to the team because so many good players are playing well that are going to get in and then the players that are not in it are the likes of Henrik Stenson - at the moment, he isn’t in it. They are the guys that have done it before and are top 30 in the world, top 40 in the world.

“I need to prove myself and get in on merit. I know my game can stand up to it but whenever someone asks me about Ryder Cup again, I’m just going to say it’s unrealistic for me, I need to play good golf and that’s what I’m trying to do.

“I thought about that on the flight home from Italy last week, Ryder Cup isn’t on my mind anymore, it’s all about playing good golf from now on.”