Matt Wallace was happy when we spoke on on Tuesday afternoon, understandably so given that less than 24 hours beforehand he had qualified for his first major championship. But there was no sense of over-the-top jubilation at gaining the opportunity to take on the world’s best in the US Open later this month; rather a joy under-pinned by a calm, level-headed attitude that has been key to the 27-year-old’s continued rise up the golfing ladder.

The Moor Park Golf Club professional is all too aware of what he has achieved in the past 15 months, reaching a new peak on Monday when he came through a seven-man play-off to claim one of the final four of 15 qualifying spots available at Walton Heath for the 117th edition of the major at Erin Hills in Wisconsin, starting on June 15.

Yet the feeling Wallace leaves you with is that qualifying for the US Open is another step on a journey, albeit a significant step; a journey to become the best player he possibly can.

Wallace began May as a Challenge Tour player. But that changed when he led from wire-to-wire to win the Open de Portugal, an event co-sanctioned by the European Tour, ensuring he gained full playing rights to compete at that level for the rest of this year. A share of 38th place followed at the Rocco Forte Open in Sicily and although he missed the cut at the prestigious BMW PGA Championship last Friday, the Pinner resident now has a trip across the Atlantic looming very large on the horizon.

He said: “I think it culminates maybe the last 12 months. This time last year, maybe a little bit before, where I won my first event on the Alps Tour and everything from there has been a whirlwind and just amazing emotions.

“There’s been more ups than downs which in this game is really quite unheard of, but I’m so happy to come through and gain my first place in a major, the US Open.”

That pleasure is shared at Moor Park and chief executive David Cook said: “We are delighted to have one of our members qualify for the US Open. The whole club has been supporting Matt throughout his professional career and it was fantastic to see him win on the Alps Tour last year and now on the European Tour in Portugal. Several of the members travelled to Portugal to support Matt so we were receiving minute-by-minute updates.

“It’s a very exciting time for Matt and the club and we all look forward to seeing his future successes.”

Qualification for Erin Hills was decided over 36 holes on Monday and last year’s six-time Alps Tour winner made sure he was in contention after carding a five-under-par opening round of 67 on the New Course featuring seven birdies.

Wallace was one shot better off after the first nine holes in his second round on the Old Course following three birdies and two bogeys. Although he moved to seven-under with a birdie on the par five 13th, the hole that was to ultimately get him into the play-off was the par five 16th where he made a superb eagle three.

“I played really good, really solid in the morning, and in the afternoon I just couldn’t hole many putts,” he explained. “I spoke to my caddie on 16 and we knew what we wanted to get to. We wanted to get to ten-under at the stat of the day and 10-under would’ve got us in [without needing to go through the play-off].

“I played a lovely five iron into the 16th after a good tee shot to about eight feet and then rolled her straight in the middle, so that gave me a lot of confidence. But then I missed an eight footer on the last to get to our number (10-under), which was a bit of a shame because I had to wait three hours to get into the play-off.”

Wallace admitted he didn’t think nine-under would be good enough initially, but as the remainder of the field finished their rounds the picture was to change.

He explained: “I was getting messages saying ‘well done’ and I was looking at the scores and the condition of the course and I thought ‘no, ten-under will probably get into the play-off’. But then it worked out with maybe an hour to go that nine-under was going to be in the play-off, I just didn’t know how many spots for. So I went and did some practice, did a whole new routine of warming up even just for one hole so at least I was ready.”

One of Wallace’s play-off rivals was to be his Moor Park club-mate Callum Shinkwin.

The 24-year-old has struggled on the European Tour this year and, like Wallace, came into US Open qualifying having missed the cut at the PGA Championship where he was disqualified after Friday’s second round.

But the Bushey professional was in fine form in his opening 18 holes on the New Course, carding a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 to put himself firmly in the mix.

The former English Amateur champion moved to eight-under with a three on the par four third on the Old Course, but three bogeys – on the par fours at four and nine and the par three 11th – seemed to have ended his challenge.

However, Shinkwin responded in fine fashion on the remainder of the back nine, picking up a shot on the par 12th, making eagle on the par five 14th to enhance his qualification chances significantly, before another birdie at the par five 16th ensured he also made the play-off.

Ultimately though, what would have been an incredible Moor Park double didn’t materialise – Wallace admitted it was “upsetting” to see his friend miss out – but Shinkwin could still be at Erin Hills as he his second alternate reserve.

The Bushey player was back in action at the Nordea Masters yesterday where he again found the going tough, carding a seven-over-par opening round of 80. But Wallace is missing out on returning to the Swedish event where he made his European Tour debut last year as it doesn’t fit in with his normal schedule of playing four tournaments and then taking a week’s break.

But he reflected: “I’ve had two wins really in those four events, I’ve had one missed cut, I’ve had my highest finish in a full European Tour tournament compared to the win in Portugal which is co-sanctioned.

“I’ve had some really good results so I’m absolutely buzzing and then I’m off to Austria next week because I had played there last year [at the Lyoness Open], my caddie was there last year as well, and I like to play my way into events, so if I play well in Austria I feel I’ll play a lot better at the US Open.”

Wallace has previous experience state-side, having played college golf at Jacksonville State in Alabama, but this was primarily on courses in the south of the country. But he added: “I love the conditions of the courses they have over there, I had a look at Erin Hills on Google last [Monday] night and it looks like a phenomenal golf course. It’s hard but it’s a really good golf course.”

One person Wallace was quick to talk to after qualifying was a man who has helped guide the careers of some of golf’s biggest names, Chubby Chandler.

Wallace signed for Chandler’s ISM sports management agency last year and revealed: “I spoke to Chubby last night and he kind of expected I was going to do it and I didn’t, I was just going there to try my best to try to get into the US Open.

“But he was saying ‘it’s a tough tournament, it’s a very difficult tournament, really go out there and enjoy it and gain every bit of experience from it’. I’m going to do that, I’m going to prepare as well as possible as I do for every tournament because it’s just golf at the end of the day. I’m going to give it my best and add the scores up at the end and see what it comes to.”

It is that almost matter-of-fact approach that is serving Wallace so well, allied to an inner drive to make the best of his career he can.

The Moor Park professional’s Open de Portugal victory means he can play in any European Tour event he wants this year, although he has to qualify for the majors and will need a sufficiently high Race to Dubai ranking to make the three end-of-season tournaments - the Turkish Airlines Open, the Nebank Golf Challenge and the DP World Tour Championship.

But if this season doesn’t pan out as Wallace intends and he loses his European Tour card, he is still set to receive an exemption that means he can play in most events again next year. It’s a safety net and Wallace acknowledges that fact, but his sights are set higher.

He explained: “I’ve had a few people say it takes the pressure off but I put pressure on myself anyway and I want to play well at every event I do. I don’t turn up to events just to make the cut, I want to play well. If that means I play well and miss the cut, so be it. I shouldn’t miss the cut if I play well because I’m good enough to compete. If I play well and I’m at the top then I want to win, but if I play badly then I’ll use that as motivation to get better. I put pressure on myself and I want to do well at every event.”