Despite the world’s gaze, mooing crowds and the pressure of competing at the top of The Open leaderboard, Barnet’s Andrew Johnston is not a man to get swept up in his own hype.

Johnston, known affectionately by his fans as “Beef”, became an overnight golfing cult hero during the tournament at Royal Troon.

That was not only down to his impressive performances around the course, where he finished eighth overall, but also a refreshingly different approach to the game.

The 27-year-old’s affable demeanour, taking chants of his nickname – and cow imitations – in his stride, admitting he planned to play cat Top Trumps with his niece at the end of the second day, and an increasingly trademark beard all helped him win a place in the hearts of the viewing public tuning into an exceptional tournament from Thursday to Sunday.

But despite finishing three under par in only his third major, which has earned him an invitation to the US PGA Championships and an automatic place in next year’s Open, Johnston told the Barnet Times he never had any intention of getting carried away during the weekend.

He said: “I just tried to take it day to day. I had a great score on the Thursday, but I thought I had to get off to a better start on the Friday and see what the wind was doing.

“On that Thursdsay I had a bad hole at the fourth [a double bogey] and even after shooting seven on the eleventh on Friday [a triple] I still managed to shake it off and regroup.

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“I didn’t do anything crazy to get people to like me, I just acknowledged people and took some pictures with them. I love it, and if it gets people into golf then that’s great.

“But it’s been amazing, I’ve loved every minute of the tournament. Every hole, as I walked up everyone was shouting “Beef” and it was great.”

There will be little respite for the North Middlesex Golf Club member, who will now travel to the US for the PGA Championship, which starts in New Jersey on July 28.

And in the midst of a year which just keeps getting better, with a debut European title under his belt in Spain back in April, Johnston is keen to continue his rise through the golfing ranks.

He said: “I’ve just got to keep working hard and doing what I’m doing. I can take it to heart too much if I’m not playing quite right, and a couple of weeks ago I was struggling a bit at the Scottish Open and I was disappointed in myself.

“I see The Open very positively but you have always got to be critical of yourself; it’s only my third major and I’ve got the confidence I can go on playing in the last couple of groups.

“I didn’t putt as well on the Sunday. I made a lot of 10-15 footers on the first three days and I just had a couple of poor shots when I should have given myself better chances, but it is what it is. I don’t want to look too far ahead, and I just want to improve."