Ernie Els says it is a matter of principle that he never bets on himself at golf.

Come Open Championship time, it could also be a matter of arithmetic. Given his record at golf's oldest and most prestigious major, he'd probably be offered more attractive odds on the prospect of the sun coming up tomorrow.

Els has teed up at the Open 22 times and finished in the top 10 on 13 of those occasions. He has missed the cut just three times – once in his rookie year and twice when he was struggling with injuries – and he has won the thing twice. Ominously, at least as far as his rivals are concerned, he is the Open champion and the last man to have won the claret jug at Muirfield. Small wonder the bookies are so parsimonious with their prices just now.

So nothing flusters the man they call the Big Easy? Er, not quite. The South African's two Open wins – he also has a brace of US Open titles to his name – were both fraught affairs, nervous and jittery at the end. For the first, at Muirfield in 2002, he had to come through a four-man, four-hole play-off. For the second, at Lytham a year ago, he rather reversed into the winner's enclosure after Adam Scott's agonising collapse over the final few holes.

And yet, for all that he must feel that the Open has aged him, there is no hiding Els's love of the tournament in which he made his first major appearance, at Royal Troon in 1989. He admits he was a little irreverent with his handling of the Claret Jug itself after he took it back to his Wentworth home in 2002 – its first outing was to his local pub – but he has lavished love, attention and a fair few bottles of silver polish on the thing over the past 12 months.

With good reason, too. The Johannesburg-born 43-year-old grew up in the era of South African isolation and, while golf was not as affected as other sports, there was still something of the allure of forbidden fruit about the possibility of playing in the Open.

"I started playing links golf in 1987," said Els, who had beaten a certain Phil Mickelson in the Junior World Golf Championship 13/14yr age category three years earlier. "We had a little unofficial South African team. We used to come over for amateur championships, then play some other events. Getting on to the links for the first time was just a special feeling. I was so excited to play links, because I had in mind what I had seen, watching guys on television. That first experience was great. I think it was at Woodhall Spa, which is in the middle of England. I had a great feel for it. Ever since then, every time I've stepped on the links, I've tried to relive that same feeling I had back in '87."

When Els won at Muirfield 11 years ago, many thought that it was the tipping point of his career and that he would go on to match the achievements of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods by completing a career grand slam of professional majors. Aside from the PGA Championship, where he has just one top-10 finish to his name, his record in the sport's greatest events is astounding, but his eye went off the ball for a while when his son Ben was diagnosed with autism a few years ago, and he decided that his boy's welfare was rather more important than obsessing about hitting small balls with sticks.

And yet there have been glimpses of the old Els just lately. He missed the cut at the Scottish Open, but there was an air of confidence and calm about him as he explained he had played far better than he had scored, and that he feels his game is in good shape for Muirfield. It was a message he was happy to reiterate yesterday after arriving at the East Lothian course the previous day.

"Okay, I didn't make the cut at the Scottish, but that has given me some extra time coming into this event," said Els. "I've played quite a few practice rounds and feel good about my game. I feel like I'm striking it nicely. There's a lot of good things happening in my game. I came in last night [Sunday] and played nine holes very quietly. It was beautiful, just to get another look at the place. We'll start our real build-up from today, but I can't wait for Thursday."

Els once admitted that defeat in 2002 would have crushed him. But for Woods, his major tally would already have gone far higher – he finished second in three of the four majors of 2000 – and he needed that Muirfield win to restore faith in himself as much as anything else. But he has been itching to get back since. "I've missed it in places from where I know I can get up and down," he said, a reference to his brilliant recovery play 11 years ago. "That's where experience plays a big part. Some of the young players who come here for the first time have to learn that under duress.

"There's no learning curve like being under a lot of pressure. You can play as many practice rounds as you like, but unless you've played it under a lot of stress you don't know exactly how you're going to react."