If OneAsia winner Nick Cullen has set himself any goals for the 2012 Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes in Lancashire later this week, he is keeping them to himself.
The 27-year-old Australian has already made two significant breakthroughs this season, so a good result in his first Major would be the gravy on an excellent Sunday lunch.
Cullen got the year off to a flying start when, along with fellow OneAsia and PGA Tour of Australasia members Aaron Townsend and Ashley Hall, he made it into The Open through International Final Qualifying at Kingston Heath in Australia.
A month later he pocketed a cool U.S. $180,686.00 after winning the OneAsia season-opening Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open by one stroke from New Zealander David Smail.
"It feels good," Cullen said.
"After I qualified for The Open my goal was to win a tour event so I felt like I can win when I go to England. It was great to do that in the first OneAsia event of the year and know that I can win when I have to."
The manner the three OneAsia players qualified that day suggests their games may well be suited to the links course they face at Royal Lytham and St Annes -- particularly if the weather turns nasty.
Unseasonal conditions at Kingston Heath saw rain and winds of more than 90 kmh before Townsend won the 36-hole event with a four-under-par 140.
Cullen and Hall were three shots further back and qualified after a playoff with veteran Peter Senior, a OneAsia winner at the 2010 Australian PGA Championship presented by Coca-Cola.
"I have a little bit of links experience," Cullen said. “I played Lahinch and Ballybunion in Ireland in 2000.
"It is not as much as I would have liked, but I hit the ball reasonably low and pretty flat so it will suit me. I love windy conditions and love hitting punch shots so I should be in my element."
Cullen doesn't have much experience of playing in Britain -- "a couple of rounds with my dad when I was 17" -- but he can still count on some loyal support in his big week.
"My coach is on the bag and my parents are coming over," he said.
"My girlfriend is also coming over from Canada, a family friend from Adelaide is coming too and I've got some mates in England who are going to come out."
Cullen knows that some players making their debut in a Major have failed by "over-thinking" the experience, so what advice has he sought or been offered on his road to the The Open?
"I talked to Craig Parry (tied fourth in the 1999 Open) in Queensland earlier in the year and he said a few words and gave me some good advice," he said.
"A couple of guys have told me to treat it the same as any other event in regards to preparation and practice rounds. They said they played too many rounds and were exhausted when the tournament came around, so I'm taking it all on board."
After his Jakarta victory, Cullen said he was confident that the results would come because he knew he was putting in the work -- "the hard yards" -- and he is sticking to that despite the disappointment of two missed cuts on OneAsia since.
"I expect to play well," he said.
"I'm working hard and my game feels good so I'm going out there expecting to do well -- like I would in any other tournament."
And those goals?
"I have some, but I'll keep those to myself!" he said.