Phillip Price is in confident mood ahead of this week's Open, believing he has finally found the form that had deserted him earlier in the season.

The Newport-based Ryder Cup hero who led after 36 holes of last week's Scottish Open, will begin his challenge by teeing-off on Thursday lunchtime alongside America's Jerry Kelly and India's Arjun Atwal and he feels his game is in good shape again.

He said: "To win the Open you've got to believe in yourself - believe you're good enough.

"Self-confidence is a very big part of my game. Before I turned pro people said I wasn't capable and that I had a poor technique. If you're told that often enough then you start to believe it - I didn't.

"I'm playing well at the moment. I feel rested and in the last couple of weeks my game has come together, so I'm optimistic. I need to lift my game a couple of notches and then, who knows, I might go very close.

"But certainly the last couple of tournaments have given me renewed confidence and I am looking to improve on my two finishes recently of 19th and 20th.

"It is very rare in a major to play on a course that is geared towards the big hitters, but that is the case at Troon which evens the playing field.

"I have much less adjustment to make to my game if the wind gets up because wind could be awful for the players who hit the ball higher and further." If the 37-year-old triumphs against the 150-1 odds and lifts the famous Claret Jug on Sunday, he will become only the second Welshman to win a major championship - and the first for more than a decade.

Price took his first look at the 7,150-yard links course on Monday and had his first taste of action during a practice round on Tuesday.

Like 1989 Troon Open winner Mark Calcavecchia, he believes he will score heavily on the front nine but fears the 'lethal' back. "My first impression was that it looked pretty easy, with immaculate greens," added Price. "How wrong I was!

"After the turn it was lethal and I was happy to just try and make my pars. I didn't know what all the fuss was about after watching on the television but now I've changed my mind.

"My one advantage is that I like playing links golf. The speed of the greens should work in my favour.

"We don't get to play links golf very often and I personally enjoy the challenge everytime."