All a bit surreal at this stage.

My season has been very poor so far really. I didn't do much on the Gateway Tour in Arizona, I've made about ?900 on the EuroPro Tour and I'm in 95th place on the order of merit.

But today, I played a practice round with John Daly. I was on the first tee, and Daly recognised my caddie, Brendan McCartain, who worked for Jose Maria Olazabal when he won the Masters in 1999. I think he reckoned that Brendan was caddying for someone really good, not a guy from the mini tours.

He was really easy-going though, said he'd never seen an Open course looking as good. Another American, Michael Putnam, joined us and he was almost as long as Daly, so I quickly got used to hitting my approach shots first.

I know I'm stepping in at the deep end.

A big golf course, and a huge tournament. There are a lot of very good players who don't get a chance at a major championship, so it's a privilege to be here. I want to do well, but I'm not going to beat myself up. No one expects me to do anything, so it takes a little pressure off me.

TUESDAY Beginning to settle in, to get to grips with the sheer size of everything. TaylorMade sorted me out with a new driver which has an 8.5 degree loft and a much more penetrating ball flight.

Would have been madness to continue with the old one on this course. Vijay Singh and Butch Harmon stop to chat with Brendan, I just get on with hitting a few balls.

Maybe you're wondering how I got here. I came through regional qualifying at Royal Dublin, and then went to Montrose close to Carnoustie for local final qualifying. Hand on heart, I didn't know how it would go, but I shot 67 then followed that up with a 68, and made it. Two good numbers back-toback, but I should really be doing that all the time.

As a kid you dream of playing in an Open, but given my lack of success in the last couple of years, I haven't been able to think of something as big as this. I believe I can play for a living on the European Tour and even though I've done nothing to suggest that, the game is there.

Played today with England's Anthony Wall and the new driver helped. Had to get used to a completely different wind to yesterday, but I'm starting to feel a bit more confident. Just noticed that my mobile's memory is full, the text messages have been pouring in.

WEDNESDAY You've got to treat this the same as any other tournament or it'll overwhelm you. That's hard for me who's never experienced anything like this. My manager, Conor Ridge of Horizon Sports, has already said to me a few times that it's a golf course, my clubs and myself, and that's it. I'm playing against the course, I'm not playing against Tiger Woods. I've just got to try and do my own thing.

Played a few holes this morning, and worked on my short game. I have a clear idea now of what I'll be trying to do tomorrow when it gets under way.

THURSDAY First tee, Carnoustie, 10.55am. A couple of minutes to go now before I hit my first shot in a major championship. My parents Brendan and Carmel are here, and there a few people from around home as well. I'm very nervous, the stomach is churning, but I'm not afraid of hitting a bad shot. Not scared.

The starter, Ivor Robson, introduces one of my playing partners, Mattias Eliasson from Sweden. I've a three wood in my hand, and now I'm beginning to get into my own pre-shot routine, and then I hear Robson in that strange highpitched tone of his, 'On the tee, from Ireland, Justin Kehoe'.

It's the biggest moment of my career so far, I take the club back in a bit of a trance, begin the downswing, and the ball is flying straight and true into the distance. I make eight pars in a row, really solid, and then the wheels come off for a few holes, but I recover for a 78. I'm a little down afterwards, could've been a few better in the relatively easy conditions. Overall, I felt pretty comfortable, and later I'm satisfied with what I've achieved. The 4th and 14th greens are side by side and for a while I was in the same orbit as Michael Campbell, Chris DiMarco, Darren Clarke, Retief Goosen, Thomas Bjorn and Justin Leonard.

That felt good.

FRIDAY Disappointed at the way I performed today, had a good round going with birdies at the second and the sixth.

Changed the game plan and went with a driver at the seventh, double bogeyed that, doubled the next where I missed an 18 inch putt, and then had bogeys at the ninth and 10th. Upset at myself, changing the game plan showed my lack of discipline. Destroyed the round.

Talked to Paul McGinley before going out, and I'd mentioned that I'd taken three to get down from around the green quite a bit. He was telling me that's the difference at this level, the players are so often able to turn three into two. I frittered away a lot shots over the past two days, so I've got learn to be more efficient, to play smarter.

Abiding memory? First tee shot on Thursday, so many people milling around, really fantastic to be part of that. I wanted to do better here, 78,79 and missing the cut was disappointing, but this has been a breakthrough as far as my career is concerned.

I'm leaving Carnoustie a better player. Now that I've reached this level, I know I can do it again.

Justin Kehoe is a 27-year-old from Shinrone in County Offaly currently playing on the EuroPro Tour. He is a former winner of the South of Ireland and the World Universities titles. Never having played in a European Tour event, Carnoustie was his first major championship