It's back to bread and butter for in-form Scot after glitz and glamour of The Open

“Yeah, I was just saying that to someone actually,” said the Perth man, smiling, after arriving at Schloss Roxburghe near Kelso for the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A.

“Do you know what, though?” he added. “By the end of last week I was like I’m looking forward to getting back to getting back out here and back to business, especially as we have a Scottish event this week, and then just batter on for the rest of the year.”

On his major debut in Northern Ireland, Young gave a good account of himself. Not helped by the fact he finished in near darkness, he dropped three shots late on in an opening 75 before carding a very satisfying level-par 71 in the second circuit, missing the cut by three shots.

“I played great on the Friday but just had a cold putter, unfortunately,” he reflected. “That was the difference. If the putter had co-operated, we would probably have been around for the weekend.

“So, yeah, it was disappointing. It would probably have been easier if I hadn’t played particularly well for the two days as I would have felt I wouldn’t have deserved that much if that had been the case.

“But I felt I played quite well on both days. I had a poor finish on Thursday, which was a bit gutting, but on Friday I played great and I was really happy, especially on such a tricky golf course.

‘It just gives you an extra bit of belief’

“ It just gives you an extra bit of belief that you can compete with these guys as well. I played well on a golf course where some big names struggled. That was the biggest takeaway.”

On the back of finishing third then joint-second in his last two HotelPlanner Tour outings, Young sits 14th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings heading into this week’s home assignment, with the top 20 at the end of the season securing DP World Tour cards.

“If you’d offered me this position at the start of the year coming into this stretch of events, I’d have bitten your hand off,” said Young, who is attached to Kingsbarns Links. “It’s just about getting the head down and battering on for the rest of the year and try to not just consolidate my position by working my way up a little bit.”

Is he playing the best golf of his career? “Yeah, certainly results-wise,” he added. “The game has been good for the last month or so and it’s just a case of doing what I’ve been doing and working on the right things and try to take the confidence and belief into this week that you can go and win a tournament.”

A total of 21 players, including a bunch of Tartan Pro Tour regulars and amateur duo Connor Graham and local man Jack McDonald, are in the field for this week’s £250,000 event, which is run by Paul Lawrie’s Five Star Sports Agency.

“The Scottish Challenge is always a great event,” observed Young. “Mikey MacDougall and the guys at Five Star Sports do a great job running it. You also get to see a lot of Scottish-based lads you don’t see the rest of the year, which is nice.”

For the majority of them, it’s an opportunity to not just change their season but their career as well. “Absolutely,” said Young, who took time to find his feet on the DP World Tour’s development circuit but is really starting to make headway this year.

“I’ve been in their position before. It’s one week and it can change your season and the rest of your career, whatever way you look at it. A win for somebody can change everything but even a top ten can get them into the following week and another chance to rack up some points.

‘Big opportunity’ for Scots at Schloss Roxburghe

“You just never know in this game as form changes so quickly and you can get a little run out here. A Spanish guy won his home event earlier in the year after coming off the Alps Tour and that shows you that it is doable. All these guys are good enough as well, having played with the majority of them over the years. Yeah, it is a big opportunity.”

In a brilliant mix at event offering free admission, the next generation of European stars will be doing battle in the Borders over the next four days with seasoned campaigners like David Law, Marc Warren, David Horsey, Eddie Pepperell and James Morrison.

A certain Brooks Koepka, of course, won this title in Aviemore in 2013 and another superstar could be in the field this week, making it a truly fascinating event.