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Tournament reports

Fourth Round Notes :

The wind again made conditions very tough for the fourth round and while I got through the front nine in only one over I dropped five shots coming back, four of them on the last five holes.

I hit the ball quite well but I needed to be on top of my short game and my putting was the problem. From on or around the greens I took around 39 putts.

I just just couldn't judge the pace with the wind gusting and missed a lot of effort from between five and six feet often because I was afraid of hitting a putt too hard and then  facing another difficult one back.

But the bottom line was that it was a great experience to have played in my first Major and to make the cut against a field including all the world's best players.

I think it has proved to me that when I am on my game I can compete with the best.

For the final round I played with last year's Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen and finished one shot ahead of him, which proves my point.  

Third Round Notes:

It blew a gale and until we got to the 18th hole in my third round it rained almost non-stop. I have played in worse conditions as an amateur but never on a course set up for an Open Championship.

So to shoot a 75 when the par for the day was 74 or 75 was quite an achievement and what ever the conditions I am still loving every minute of playing my first Major.

I didn't start too well opening with two bogeys but clawed back a bit of ground with a two putt birdie at the par five seventh. Sadly I followed that with a double bogey after getting to ambitious in the rough.

But having played the first nine in four over I played the back nine in one over and my short game was just great.

How bad was the wind  ? Well at the sixth I hit a four iron around 155 yards - so it meant that the wind there was about 50-60 yards strong.

But I stayed patient throughout and I am still in a position to record a top 30 or even top 20 finish in my first Major.

Second Round Notes:

To make the cut in my first Major gives me so much confidence. Even more because while I will be playing at the weekend the world's number one and two golfers Luke Donald and Lee Westwood will be sitting out the last two rounds at the Open Championship.

I had a tough battle, starting after lunch when the wind got up and came from a different direction than on the first day and I thought making the course more difficult. Morning sunshine also made the fairways more fiery.

There was a danger that all the hard work I put in during the first round might be have been wasted when I ran up three bogeys over the front nine.

But I put in a great finish holing from 12 foot and 35 foot on the 16th and 17th greens for birdies and then saving par at the last from six feet.

I am chuffed that when I really needed to I holed those clutch putts and at the end of the day I am only live five shots behind the joint leaders Darren Clarke and Lucas Glover.

Bad weather is predicted for the week and on this course where there is danger in almost every shot anything could happen and my confidence is high going into the final 36 holes.

First Round notes:

As much as I tried to relax before my first round in a Major I did get a bit nervous of the first tee at Royal St George's, but I think everyone does to some extent at a major and if you don't feel nervous then perhaps you don't care enough.

The result was a drive into thick rough from which I found a greenside bunker and I was unable to hole a six foot putt to save par.

However starting with a bogey may not have been a bad thing. It made me knuckle down and concentrate on my golf and to emerge with a sub par total was great start.

Although at the time I found myself four shots behind the early leader Thomas Bjorn of the 66 players who had gone out before me only 11 others found themselves in red under par figures.

It was tough at the start with a strong breeze particularly at the fourth and fifth and I did well to save par at both of those holes and the way I birdied the par five 7th gave me a real lift.

I had bunkers to negotiate for my second shot and was caught between laying up short and trying to clear them and with that indecision topped my shot along the ground, but then I hit a seven iron to 20 feet and holed the putt.

With that I started to feel comfortable out on the course and confident in my swing and sinking another 20 footer for birdie on the 17th completed it good days work.

Ever since I was a kid I dreamed of walking down the 18th between the huge stands, now lets hope I am doing it again late on Sunday when they are packed with spectators. Not that I was alone out on the course it was great to have the family and 20 to 30 friends from Essex following behind the ropes.

Tournament preview:

It is finally here. The day that I have longed for since I first set out in my career as a professional golfer. I am playing in my first Major.

I have taken advice from David Howell about I should handle the week at Royal St George's and he said to try to relax and not get to sucked into the big occasion.

To help me stay calm I have got mum and dad and Jo and Ollie staying with me in the house we have rented for the week and its working well.

Practice has not been because of the stiff northerly wind that's been blowing across the course reaching speeds at times of more than 20mph. It is not the prevailing wind here so some of holes are playing longer and tougher than they usually do. But its going to be the same for everyone so there is no point in worrying too much about it.

The course is playing quite firm and because of the mounds on some fairways it is quite possible to get a bad bounce even off a well struck shot, but again that can happen to anyone.

My form recently has been good, I played a lot of links golf and I am really looking forward to the challenge.

Richard

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