For many of us crude amateurs, the thought of playing golf with a smile is an alien concept given that our faces are regularly frozen in terrified rictus as another 5-iron skitters off into the perilous wilds.

Beth Allen is a much cheerier soul, however. Anybody who followed the Edinburgh-based Californian during her rousing final day assault at the Ladies Scottish Open in July will vouch for the truth in that statement. Grins here, chuckles there? Even when a birdie putt on the final green teetered on the edge of the cup, didn’t drop and effectively ended her spirited challenge, there was still a reflective beam.

Allen has plenty to smile about, of course. Ahead of next week’s Evian Championship, the final Major on the women’s circuit, she remains on course to be crowned the Ladies European Tour’s No 1 and the first American to achieve such a feat. There’s still a lot of golf to be played but the 34-year-old will play it with an almost carefree demeanour that masks a fierce competitive instinct. A sense of perspective is a key weapon in her armoury as well.

Five years ago, Allen underwent an operation to donate a kidney to her older brother, Dan. If golf in the cut-throat echelons of the professional game is something of a selfish pursuit, Allen’s act was one of utter selflessness.

“He had been on dialysis for a long time and his life was not the kind you’d want to live,” she said. “In 2011 I got a phone call when I was playing in the Australian Open and was told we were a match and I could give him a kidney. I was back playing eight weeks after the operation.”

Over the past few seasons, Allen, who has made Scotland her home and recently married former Ladies European Tour player Clare Queen, has made sizeable strides. Since 2010 she has not finished outside the top 25 on the rankings and she upped the ante in 2015 with a maiden win in the Ladies European Masters, a title she was defending this weekend.

“Deep down I knew I could do it but after 11 years on tour I started to wonder if my time would ever come,” said Allen, whose progress has been aided by Scottish national coach Ian Rae as well as the pearls of wisdom from caddie Sophie Gustafson, the former European No 1 and Solheim Cup campaigner. “When it finally did, it was the best feeling ever. I never wanted that Sunday to end. Both Sophie and Ian have been instrumental in my progress this year. Sophie is my caddie, mentor and friend. I learn from her and I laugh with her.”

Allen narrowly missed the cut in this season’s US Women’s Open but she finished on the fringes of the top-10 in the Women’s British Open with a share of 14th at Woburn. This week, it’s another test of her increasingly sturdy mettle in the plush resort of Evian-les-Bains as she joins a stellar field which includes the world No 1 Lydia Ko, whose victory in the event last year made her the youngest winner of a women’s golfing Major.

“Over the last five years I have really found a balance that allows me to play good golf and enjoy myself,” said Allen as she mulled over the secret to her success. “I used to think that wasn’t allowed if you wanted to be the best. But if I won the order of merit it would certainly prove that there isn’t one correct way to be a successful professional golfer.”

Allen will continue to do it her way. And with a smile on her face.