Cast into a golfing no-man's land, Elliot Saltman is now back among the big boys at Royal Lytham.
Describing the last 16 months of the 30-year-old's career as something of a roller-coaster is pretty apt, given that we're just a decent wedge away from the myriad thrills of Blackpool's Pleasure Beach.
It's not been all the fun of the fair, though, for the Scot. The well-documented ball-marking incident, which led to a three-month European Tour ban at the start of last season for a "serious breach" of the rules, will follow him wherever he lays his clubs. Yet Saltman is now back on a high, having secured a second Open appearance through the final qualifying scramble.
His rookie campaign on the main circuit in 2011, which was dogged by that cheating controversy, ended with him having finished a lowly 198th on the Race to Dubai. The vagaries of the rankings meant he was effectively relegated three divisions and is now back to square one on the PGA EuroPro Tour.
The clamber back up the ladder has gathered pace these last couple of weeks, however. A few days after coming through the final qualifying shoot-out at Southport & Ainsdale, Saltman went on to record an eight-shot win in the EuroPro circuit's Audi Cork Masters, a triumph sealed with a sparkling 61 in his final round.
Saltman has never lacked confidence and the events of the past fortnight, allied to a morale boosting experience in practice the other day, has him in buoyant mood. "I played with Adam Scott and Geoff Ogilvy in practice," explained Saltman, who also qualified for the 2009 Open at Turnberry. "I was hitting it so well and Steve Williams [Scott's caddie and former caddie of Tiger Woods] said he fancied putting a bet on me. Adam said I should do well, too. I do feel I belong here. The compliments I was getting from the two guys yesterday were unbelievable. It's nice to hear it from guys you look up to. And caddies don't throw their money away, so I believe Steve when he says I'm playing well."
The turbulent times over the last year and a half have proved costly for Saltman, but the burly former rugby player is eager to barge his way back up the order again. "Losing my card and going back down to the EuroPro Tour has been very disheartening," added Saltman, who is now working with Scottish coach Kevin Craggs after a long spell with veteran swing guru Bob Torrance. "Getting knocked back makes you a stronger person. It makes you appreciate what you had. I had this [the Open] in 2009 and I appreciated it, but everything happened so fast. Now, I feel I'm stepping up to the mark. I've let it go once, I'm not going to let it go again."
As a 750/1 outsider, there may not be many rushing to the bookies to slap a pile of notes on the Archerfield man but a galvanised Saltman has plenty of belief in his own abilities and doesn't just want to make up the numbers.
"I don't just want to compete but to contend," he declared. "I want to be up there with the very best. The only thing holding you back is the space between your ears. Even driving down to the qualifier, I felt I was going to get through. I get these gut instincts and feel when I'm going to do something. I've got the same gut instinct here.
"There are wee signs. Walking up the last yesterday in practice and the only name at the top of the leaderboard was Saltman. Things like that are omens. You start thinking about it."
Saltman is already strapping himself in for another roller-coaster ride.
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