"Fifty two," said Jesper Parnevik to bemused colleagues here on Wednesday night. On getting no response, he repeated the number, again shunning a preamble. For the benefit of us mortals, however, he explained its relevance after carding an opening 69 at Royal Lytham yesterday.

"That's my position on the European Order of Merit," said the 36-year-old Swede, who won the Honda Classic on the US Tour earlier this year.

"But with a good run here, then the Scandinavian Masters and the PGA Championship after that, I believe I can do enough over the next month to earn my place in the Ryder Cup team."

Against the background of this championship, it was interesting to note Parnevik's current fascination with figures. It will be recalled that with the chance of victory at Turnberry in 1994, he ignored the scoreboards, went for the pin on the 72nd believing he needed a birdie to win, and ran up a bogey to lose out to Nick Price.

Then there was his share of second place with Darren Clarke at Royal Troon in 1997, when a closing 73 saw him overtaken by Justin Leonard. He was again prominent a year later at Royal Birkdale, sharing fourth place behind Mark O'Meara.

Is a breakthrough at hand for this wonderfully skilled eccentric, famous for his so-called retro attire, flipped-up cap and consumption of volcanic ash? "I'm playing very, very well," he said of a round which contained three bogeys and five birdies, three of them in a row from the short fifth.

"With crosswinds and so many bunkers out there, you're in trouble if you can't move the ball both ways. I'm playing all the shots - right to left, left to right, high, low, every way I want to. But it doesn't matter how far you're capable of hitting the ball, those traps will get you unless you keep it straight. So I used everything from driver to three iron off the tee on the driving holes."

Parnevik went on: "Here we have positive proof that technology can't help you in the wind on links terrain. It's tough to hit fairways and the last three holes here are brutal. Sometimes you have to lay back quite a bit off the tee which gives you a long approach. But that's the only way.

"I admire the organisers for the way they have set up the course. In fact they've done an unbelievable job. Ever since I won the Scottish Open in 1993, I've always loved to play over here. I suspect that this is what they wanted to do at Carnoustie two years ago, but something went wrong."

He then talked in admiration of Ryder Cup colleague Colin Montgomerie. "If you had the guts to drive the ball a long way down the fairways, a 65 was definitely on," he said. "But what amazes me is that Monty hasn't done this before in the Open. This should be the perfect tournament for him.

"Mind you, there's still three days to go and considering I had three three-putts, I'm very pleased to be two under, even if I happen to be four shots off the lead."

When told of all the grief certain of his rivals encountered at the long seventh, Parnevik smiled a knowing smile. Then he explained: "I hit a really good drive there, long and straight, so I could go at the green with a 260-yard five-wood shot. When it came up a little short on the right, I chipped 20 feet left of the pin and holed for birdie."

For all his eccentricities, he is enough of a pragmatist to know that he cannot count on fate delivering this prize simply because he has had two near misses. "You can never say a tournament owes you something," he admitted. "But I've had my chances and I hope I can give myself another chance on Sunday."

Parnevik's company, Lifizz Inc, markets and distributes effervescent vitamins in the US. It is a product one would hardly associate with an old, claret jug. Still, the Swede is capable of producing a sparkle of a different kind with a golf iron in his hands.

Could he now be on the verge of a breakthrough? After this start, he has certainly pointed himself in the right direction.