Billy Foster admits he has a renewed appetite for golf as he bids to help Branden Grace go one better at Muirfield in the Open this weekend.

The Keighley-born caddy, who is working at a major for the first time in more than 15 months following a serious knee injury, was on the South African’s bag as he finished second to Phil Mickelson in a play-off at the Scottish Open last week.

It was the second time in three tournaments since his comeback that Foster has helped his employer to a runners-up spot, having been alongside Thomas Bjorn at the BMW International Open in Munich.

And the 47-year-old is relishing being back in the thick of things ahead of a tournament which means so much to him.

Foster said: “Being out for so long has given me a different perspective on things. It’s made me really hungry. I enjoyed it before but now I am enjoying it even more.”

Like with Bjorn, the Bingley St Ives member’s link-up with Grace is only a temporary one while the player’s permanent caddy is back in South Africa.

Foster has been impressed with his new boss, who is currently ranked fifth on the European Tour and has been drawn to play alongside former US Open champion Webb Simpson in the opening two rounds.

He said: “He’s like a mini Graeme McDowell. He’s got a lot of bottle, has a good head and he putts well. He is also a good wind player.”

Foster admits to a “burning desire” for success at the Open, a tournament he has been ever-present at since childhood.

It is ten years since he was caddying for Bjorn at Sandwich when the Dane blew a three-shot lead with four holes to play.

The Eldwick-based bagman said: “The Open is special and means the world to me. I’ve been to every one since 1975 when I was a young lad.

“It would be a dream to walk up that last hole and have that feeling of being part of winning it. I was with Thomas when he was second and have also gone close with Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood. I’ve a burning desire to help someone win it.”

Foster has caddied at Muirfield in the Open for Gordon Brand Junior (1987), Seve Ballesteros (1992) and Clarke (2002). He believes the course will be hard to tame, even if the good weather remains.

He said: “The rough is knee-high and the course is playing so fast and bouncy that it will be hard to control the ball. It will be a true links test.”