Meath golfer Alex Maguire said it was a "surreal" feeling to find his name beside Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy in the Hoylake locker room at this year's Open Championship.
The Laytown and Bettystown man qualified for the tournament after topping the R&A's amateur series.
"Me and my caddie Jack McDonnell walked in [on Sunday]," Maguire told RTÉ Radio 1.
"We got off the boat and drove straight here. We were walking around and seeing what the place was about.
"I went into the locker room to get my locker and there was no name in between McIntyre and Matsuyama. I was like, 'OK, obviously they've forgotten my locker'.
"Then the attendee in the locker room was like, 'Oh no, it's over here in the corner'. I assumed all the amateurs were put together.
"Then he leads me inside the champions locker room, the champions corner, and I see my name - Shane Lowry, myself and then Rory (McIlroy).
"To be honest, I couldn't stop smiling for 15 minutes after about how cool it was to have my name beside those two lads, and them being my two favourite golfers I've looked up to for the last few years. Now I have a locker beside them which is quite surreal."
21 July 2019; Shane Lowry of Ireland celebrates as he walks onto the 18th green on his way to winning The Open Championship on Day Four of the 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Portrush, Co Antrim. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Maguire added: "I've qualified to be here by my own golf. I'm very proud of myself to be able to play The Open.
"I played [a practice round] with Patrick Reed and Denny McCarthy, great to play with those guys, and even Branden Grace up the last two holes there.
"It was surreal stuff, walking by Jason Day and Jordan Spieth. I'm soaking in as much as I can. I was at St Andrews last year watching The Open.
"The grandstands and the kerfuffle of it all doesn't really shock me. But when you're the person that everyone else is watching, it's a little bit different."
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