The work I did with Butch on the range was encouraging and it felt just as good when I returned to Sandwich this morning.
My practice was interrupted briefly when a ball landed at my feet - chipped to me from 50feet away by Davis Love 111, my playing partner not only for the first couple of rounds, but also before the tournament started.
I’d lost £100 to Davis when we played with David Duval and Freddie Couples and although I had every intention of paying him, he obviously had no intention of letting me forget.
It was a lovely bit of fun and relaxed me before the round started. I then went out to try to cut into the lead he had over me.

Darren’s Open Diary - Day 10, Part 2
It may not have been reflected in my score, but my second 75 was much better than the one I opened The Open with.
It was one of those days by the seaside you have from time to time. On another day the ball would have kicked back to the centre of the fairway, but today it decided to roll into the rough.
This is what links golf is all about - taking the rough with the smooth. Trouble was, although I played much better than on Thursday, I just couldn’t get any momentum going.
My luck was typified on the 14 ^th . I hit two wonderful shots to the front of the green and then managed to putt the ball 24 yards over the back and contrived to make six when a birdie should have been the worst I scored. It was one of those moments when I wanted to get away as quickly as possible in case the crowd started laughing at me.
Being nine shots back is not insurmountable and I’m aiming to finish top 10 at worst. Having seen what happened at Muirfield last year, I know that anything can happen.
Who knows I might get lucky with the weather… and it certainly won’t do my cause any harm if it’s calm tomorrow morning and the wind picks up in the afternoon.
It will be a quiet night tonight, but having recovered from their bouts of food poisoning, the family have decided I am excused cooking responsibilities for the rest of the week.