Kent golfer Steve Tiley says he is hoping his good form will give him ‘a sniff of a chance’ at glory in The Open Championship at Muirfield this week.

The 30-year-old European Tour ace has a proud record of qualifying for the Open, having done so in three of the last four years he has entered the qualifying rounds.

He missed the cut by a single shot when playing as an amateur in 2004 but leapt to prominence at St Andrews three years ago when he shot a first-round 66 to sit in the top-three at the end of day one.

He eventually finished 68th but missed the cut by a single shot at Royal Lytham & St Anne’s 12 months ago.

Tiley will tee-off alongside American Josh Teater and Devon amateur Jimmy Mullen at 10.50am on Thursday and 3.51pm on Friday.

He goes into the championship on the back of a 10-under-par, 19th-place finish in the Swiss Challenge in Lucerne, following a 68 and 65 in the first two rounds.

He said: “Everything’s good at the moment and I’m playing nicely. It was nice to qualify again. I only missed by one shot in the only qualifier I haven’t made. That was annoying as it was for Royal St Georges in 2011. That was the one I really wanted to play.”

He added: “I know I can do it, so I think that gives me extra confidence. It’s just a question of trying to play half-decent, and if you do you’ll be in with a sniff. It’s almost like a lottery. And if you don’t play well it’s not the end of the world. If you qualify it’s a bonus – there’s nothing resting on it.