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Andrew Johnston on the distractions of stardom at the PGA Championship

Andrew Johnston hopes to hit the headlines for his golf rather than his personality as he prepares to end a remarkable couple of months on a high at this week's PGA Championship.

Johnston has enjoyed a rapid rise to stardom since lifting his maiden professional title at the Open de Espana earlier this year, emerging as a firm favourite with the fans both on and off the course on both sides of the Atlantic.

The 27-year-old, known popularly as 'Beef', has enjoyed his new-found cult-hero status and has attracted a vast following, particularly during the US Open at Oakmont and The Open at Royal Troon earlier this month.

Andrew Johnston has enjoyed interacting with the fans since his arrival at Baltusrol

But he is wary of fans overlooking that fact that he is a serious professional golfer, and he is determined to follow up his eighth-place finish at Troon with another strong performance at Baltusrol.

"It's all about the golf, that's what I grew up doing," said Johnston at a pre-tournament press conference. "That's what I grew up watching and where I wanted to be. So now I'm here, it's like I want to keep pushing forward, and the first thing, the most important thing is the golf before anything else.

Johnston has been in huge demand from autograph hunters over the last couple of months

"I want to come away and look back in so many years and think, yeah, that's been a great time on the golf course. And not going, oh, yeah, well, it was good for that period of time, but we had a good laugh. No, it's all about the golf. That's most important."

When asked to describe his recent surge in popularity, he added: "Just crazy man! Just everything, really, from Spain, playing there, head is high and it died down. And then I turned up at Oakmont and it was crazy. Then turn up at The Open, play well and I'll never forget Sunday there.

Beef is hoping to let his golf do the talking at Baltusrol

"The first hole was crazy, like the roars when we walked up to the first, and then I holed the putt on the first. It was just mad and then obviously walking down 18 on Sunday was so special.

"I love the support and I love trying to give back my time. I actually had a big learning curve yesterday where I played a few holes and I was signing so much; I probably shouldn't have done as much on the course and then waited till after. 

"I played the first two holes, and then cut across to the back nine and played from 10 to 18, but it took like four and a half hours or something like that.

Johnston acknowledges the fans as he heads to the final green at Royal Troon

"It was like the first real time where I've had that much attention and I came off the course and I was like, 'That was crazy. That was mad'. It's just a thing of trying to get the right timing to spend time with all the fans, because I love it and it means so much to me. But at the same time, you've got to get your practice in, as well."

Johnston also explained how a visit to Sky's innovative Open Zone at Royal Troon helped him iron out a couple of flaws in his swing after he analysed the footage.

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"It was a strange week. I was struggling a bit in practice and then I actually went into the Sky Open Zone on Wednesday, and I had a look back when they posted it back out in the evening, and I didn't really like what I saw in my swing.

"I just felt like I was a little bit low down and a bit far away from the ball. I said 'right, when I get there Thursday, I'm just going to sort of stand up and go for a few different things', and I started to hit it nice.

"It was a bit iffy the first few holes, but I parred the first few and got on to the fourth, the par-five, and I was in the right rough and I hit the biggest shank you'll ever see, like straight into the beach, basically. And from there on, I didn't miss a shot.

A trip to the Open Zone helped Johnston fix a couple of issues with his swing at The Open

"I finished two under and then I was going well the next day until I hit one in the train on 11 on the way to Glasgow, and again nearly put the ball on the next train on the next carriage. But then I finished really strong there, so it was kind of like a really up-and-down week.

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"I felt like I chipped and putted well. I was a bit disappointed the way I finished the back nine on Sunday, it should have been a bit better than that. But I just saw it as another learning curve, first time right up there in a major and I'm sure that hopefully next time I'm up there, it will be better than that."