I think the winning score will be around +2 – if Norman shoots 70 then I don’t think anyone will catch him.

It’s not as tough as yesterday out there – about the same as the first two days. There are a few more crosswinds though and not many straight down wind holes. It will be tricky and it can be hard to find pins.

I am pretty happy with my Championship – I would like to have been a little higher up the leaderboard and I think I really could have been had I not chipped so poorly the first two rounds. I feel like I have swung it well but to have played all four rounds and to finish well inside the top 40 – that is pretty cool.

It was so good today. Playing with the world number two on the Sunday of an Open Championship was pretty special. I phoned up last night to get my tee -time and they told me I was playing with Phil Mickelson I was like “YES!” It was the perfect draw for me.

We got on really well, we talked about odds and sods on the way round – some of the typical golf pro chat such as; where you are from, what’s your schedule. But then we also had some laughs about other stuff and some of the tournaments we have both played in and shared some good stories. He is so easy to get on with, easy and approachable.

I really learnt some stuff from him as well – he is such a gritty competitor, he said he wasn’t putting well but he still stuck in there and finished very strongly and we shot the same score despite me being a few ahead of him for most of the round. No invite to his pad in America yet though!

I hadn’t been putting that well for the first three days so to make three birdies on the front nine was really good – it was great to feel that I had that spark back and could get the crowd cheering. I was very disappointed down 10 and 11 that I didn’t keep it going and keep pushing forward. I then didn’t finish as well as I have been doing but I can’t kick myself with a 71 – my best round off the week – on the final day of the Open.

I have also put a bit of money on the board which should help in the hunt to keep my card in my rookie year. I will take some confidence to Russia next week and a bit of work on the putting and chipping and I feel I am there.

Then finally after Russia I have got two weeks off and think I’ll go a bit crazy for the first week – probably won’t pick up a golf club but I have got some work to do first!

It’s a strange atmosphere here in the media centre at Royal Birkdale as everyone waits for the Lord Mayor’s show to get under way.

The old, established hero hacks, your John “Hoppy” Hopkins, your Lewine Mairs, your venerable Bill Elliotts, are all floating around with the calm assurance that comes with 28 Open Championships while we relative virgins (relative) are all a flutter with nerves, excitement and tingling anticipation.

I can hardly sit still, get the occasional bout of cold sweats and can’t stop an involuntary twitch up towards the scoreboard even though I know nothing could possibly happen up there for an hour or two. God only knows what Norman and Harrington are feeling like – in fact they are probably pretty relaxed which rather concisely explains why I am sitting in here and not practising out there, that and the fact that my parents didn’t push me enough of course.

The general feeling in here seems to be that it will come down to a straight shootout between Harrington and Choi, with a higher percentage of paid wordsmiths seeming to think that the Korean will become the first Asian Open Champion on the very course where the loveable Mr Lu so nearly pipped Lee Trevino to the Claret Jug in 1971. What do we know though – everyone here was convinced Norman would be blown off-course yesterday and look what happened.

One little aside that I can offer is that whoever wins will have to make some spectacularly correct decisions – something I have been struggling with of late. The first came yesterday when after one too many shandies I placed my entire life-savings on Steve Stricker… (sorry sweetheart you might have to pay the mortgage this month!) and the second came just a few minutes later when I thought a Mount Etna was a good name for a pizza. To say it was hot is to say Steve Stricker was not perhaps the best bet on the scoreboard.

We are off to the range to see how the leaders are hitting it – we’ll report back shortly – hope none of them had pizza last night.

I have just arrived in the media tent which is situated about 100 yards from the 18th green at Royal Birkdale. As I scan down the huge leaderboard in front of me it seems that every player in the top ten would be a surprising yet fascinating winner. Here are some of the reasons why:

Greg Norman +2
I don’t think it needs explaining why a 53-year-old, who plays more tennis than golf, would be a turn up for the books. This really would be one of the most unexpected Open victories in history.

Padraig Harrington +4
He may be one of the best players in the world but there was serious talk of Harrington pulling out on Thursday. With an injured wrist and the pressure of defending a win would cement Harrington’s place as one of the best golfers of his generation.

KJ Choi +4
Trying to become the first Asian to win a major championship, Choi would achieve hero status in Korea if he can continue his fine form this week. The 37-year-old finished in the top ten at last year’s Open and has looked extremely comfortable in the difficult conditions.

Simon Wakefield +5
Looking to become the first Englishman to win the Open since Faldo in 1992, Wakefield produced an outstanding back nine of 34 yesterday to post a round of 70. The 34-year-old is currently ranked 256 in the world but another round like yesterday’s could be life changing.

Ben Curtis +7
The surprise winner at Royal St George’s flew up the leaderboard after a round of 70 yesterday. No one saw him coming back in 2003 but he proved that anything can happen during a final round.

Ross Fisher +7
A player in excellent form coming into the week, Fisher continues to impress. The Englishmen handled the pressure brilliantly during his European Open win two weeks ago and played some outstanding golf to qualify for both the US Open and the Open this year.

There are at least another 13 players who have a great chance in the tough conditions including three other Englishman. Graeme Storm, Ian Poulter and 20-year-old amateur Chris Wood are all within five shots of the lead. Who ever lifts the trophy on the 18th green this afternoon it should be great entertainment until the very end.

As you would expect, golf has dominated the delightful series of after dinner conversations this week. Although sitting down with fellow journalists night after night might seem a little incestuous, at least the conversation flows as freely as the red wine that accompanies it as hacks are never short of opinions or reluctant to express them.

Last night we discussed replacing the rather weary Open Championship strokeplay format with something altogether more inventive. My preference is for the ‘Perch Game.” Ideally suited to threeballs, you get on the perch by winning a hole outright. And you score by winning another hole outright whilst on the perch. If you halve it, you stay on the perch but don’t score a point. If you lose a hole whilst on the perch, whoever wins it climbs onto the perch. If no one wins it outright, the perch becomes vacant.

One of the many appealing aspects of the perch game is the constantly shifting allegiances as the two players not on it, seek to topple the other off the perch. So, one player from each first round threeball would survive to the second round and so on until after four rounds three players would emerge to contest the final. On top of its many advantages, it would enable the field to be expanded to 243, which is pretty well double the number that can be accommodated now.

Wherever possible, I think there should be one European, one American and one player from the rest of the world in each threeball A team event could then be run in parallel with the Open and each player who wins a first round match would earn his team – Europe, USA or Rest of the World – one point. There would be three points for a second round win, five points for a third round win, 10 points for a semi-final win and 25 points would be awarded to the Open Champion.

A great idea that would, in my opinion, ensure that the Open Championship remains the pre-eminent golf tournament in the world.

Windy? You bet your sweet life it's been windy. I walked several holes yesterday and at least twice was blown backwards a few feet. This, believe me, is links golf at its toughest. Which is terrifc to see.

For great tracts of the year the world's finest live a cossetted, mink-lined life. All is sweetness, all is light. Complaints are few and when they do emerge they are usually the bleatings of a group that need to get real. Well, it's not easy this week at this Open.

Brutal is a better adjective but isn't it fun watching it all unravel? Certainly the punters lining the fairways are having a ball watching players have to use their wits rather than yardage charts, their shot-making abilities (if they have any) rather than a metronomic swing.

If anything, my pleasure when I saw the wind forecast for the day was exceeded by the grin that was pasted across Mark Roe's face when we joined forces for some heavy duty coffee before venturing outside the rattling Media centre. "Isn't it great?" asked my old friend. " I reckon that if par on the first day was around 75 that it'll be a lot closer to 80 this afternoon. Watching how these guys cope now is going to be spectacular."

And it was. It just shows that it doesn't have to be birdies and eagles for a tournament to turn the sharp side of interesting. Adversity is a great ingredient and it is one that brings out the character in those blokes who have character to start with.

Anyway so much for the fun. The otgher big news from Elliott Towers is that my stomach has returned to my abdomen and appears for the first time this week to be in half-decent shape. So much so that by lunchtime I felt ready to do what I haven't sone since turning all sickly and pathetic on Tuesday...EAT SOMETHING. It meant my first foray into the Media Dining Facility or The Restaurant Of Last Resort as I now know it.

The options were stark...curry (I don't think so after the week I've had) or something called scouse! Initially the thought of eating a recently grilled Liverpudlian was not top of my things to do list but when the nice wee girl behind the counter explained it was potatos and lamb I accepted her offer to shovel a half ton of it on to a plate.

I shouldn't have bothered. Three forkfuls later I realised that my initial diagnosis of this dish had been more accurate and also that it was probably an Evertonian who had been grilled. Awful doesn't describe it. My stomach, still reeling from the blows of the week past, is once again grumbling as I write this. Indeed, if you'll excuse me...

Wow it was tough out there, definitely the toughest of the three days so far. In fact when I was three-over after three I thought, 'I'm going to struggle to break 80 today!'

The real difficulty in a wind like today was putting. The ball was jiggling about on the greens and we were so worried about it moving at address (and getting a one-shot penalty) that you start to hover your putter and then you lose all your confidence with your stroke.

I made a few amendments with my putting stance, widening my feet and trying to get a more solid base from which to operate. Then off the tee and the fairway I tried to choke down on everything, feel the ball a bit more in the back of my left hand and make sure I don’t try and hit anything too hard which would only create too much spin on the ball. It’s been a day of just looking to stick in there.

It’s obviously vital on a day like today to just stick in there and try and make sure the shots that are off-line – and there are going to be some – end up in the right place. I mean 10 and 12 for instance are so difficult that you just have to think where can you hit it if things go wrong.

The last three days have been so tough for the caddies and Duncan has done a brilliant job for me. We have a relationship where he calls a lot of the shots so he has got a hell of a lot to do. He’s thinking about yardage, the club, what sort of shot I ought to hit and the good thing is there are lots to choose from!

I was so pleased to hang on today and then at 15 I missed a short putt for birdie but then got them at both 16 and 17 which was fantastic for me. I have played the final stretch really well in the last few rounds and it was a great reward for staying in there through the tough stuff.

One thing I would say is that the R&A did a fantastic job today. If they hadn’t moved the tees forward at 11 and 16 then no one would have made the fairway at either – which is just not golf. They really reacted well to the weather, thank goodness.

And now I have got the final day of the Open Championship to look forward to… I can’t wait.

There aren’t very many in the field who can claim to have played golf with me. Let me see. Choi – no, Norman – no, Furyk – no, Harrington – no. This is becoming rather dull so let me quickly whiz down the list and count them up. Right, there is one player with whom I have golfed and his name is Chris Wood.

If you look back over my previous blogs you will eventually come to a thrilling account of the Press-Am curtain raiser to the Portugal Nations Cup. Played at Val do Lobo in the Algarve, it is one of the premier events of the golfing calendar. I had the honour to represent England last year and partner three fellow internationals; Ben Evans, Ben Parker and Chris Wood. The first two have since turned professional and are plying their trade on the Challenge Tour while Chris is still, like me, an amateur.

All three of them were off plus four (up until then the only plus fours I had seen on a golf course were wrapped around someone’s legs) and played brilliantly. With one score to count on each hole, we came in 15 under par and beat the 11 other national teams to claim first prize, a rather unattractive ashtray which, on its own, wasn’t sufficient to persuade me to take up smoking.

Anyway, I was delighted to learn that my erstwhile team-mate Chris had come through the qualifying rounds to make it here to Birkdale. His first round 75 was good but his second round 70, which he finished by chipping in for a birdie at the last, was quite brilliant. Clearly those tips I’d given him out in the Algarve were proving enormously helpful

This morning I followed him for his front nine and his four over at the turn was scant reward for some superb golf. For me, the highlight wasn’t the flawless birdie three at the fifth but the moment on the seventh fairway when he spotted me, came over and asked how I was. Well, the referee, raker, scorer and other assorted group followers who were accompanying Chris and his playing partner Jay Williamson were dead impressed. Previously a little suspicious of the yellow armband that allowed me inside the ropes to join them, they subsequently gave me a great deal more respect.

Chris is on course to claim the Silver Medal presented to the leading amateur and, as I very much hope he will, should he win it, it will be interesting to ask him afterwards whether he rates it as big a triumph as being in the team that captured the Portugal Nations Cup Press-Am.

“We slept in the dunes the first night and then last night we got taken in by the scout hall, it’s been brilliant!” Welcome to the world of the extreme golf fan. With the weather flexing it’s muscles it was time to find out what the fans here thought about it all.

Simon, Ivor and Jayden are all from Australia – a fact you might have gathered had you come across them at Birkdale thanks to the shorts, home-made shirts bearing the names of Norman, Allenby and Scott, the prerequisite cans of Fosters and perhaps most tellingly of all, the massive grins. “We here as caddies for the Aussies,” said Ivor – ah that explains the toy plastic golf sets they were carrying. “We’re winging it from London to support our boys and we’re having a wild time,” confirmed Simon – a fact I was beginning to understand.

Refreshingly the boys were very complimentary about the welcome Southport had given them, with some mention of the fact that people are so much friendlier north of Watford. While the Great White Shark remains in the hunt this trio of lightly sauced Antipodeans were not going anywhere. “We’re loving all the action,” Jayden laughed – I am not 100% confident he was only talking about the golf but there we go.

Meanwhile the 7-strong Milne family were having a riot of their own with some disagreements at 13 about where best to go. “We’ve been at the 12th for most of the first two days,” said the man in charge. “It’s been brilliant, we like to watch the players struggle in the wind and yesterday we saw one player hit it into a spectator’s pocket!”

Despite murmurings to the contrary around the press tent, the youngest Milne was adamant that he would tee it up in such conditions and that at Headingley GC in Yorkshire they regularly have “much stronger winds”.

Nick, Mick, Andy and Sean were a little more reserved as to where they were most happy in this kind of weather – “the bar” was the unequivocal answer. The men from Oldham were also though really enjoying watching the players struggle. “It makes them more like us,” said Sean. Before Mick added, “I don’t know what they are whingeing about, it’s great for golfing.” Indeed.

The last word went to home fan David, who lives just a few miles from the course; “It’s an absolute pleasure to be here, I don’t care what they weather is like!” I know what he means.

“To be honest, it’s been very quiet.” So said Bumus, my new best friend and vendor of ice creams round the back of the 9th green. The poor man looked deeply disappointed with life, or more particularly the Liverpool climate. Lashing rain and 45mph winds do not constitute summer in Poland apparently.

The gales might be sending scores soaring but they are certainly sending ice-cream sales tumbling, which is rather unfair if you happen to be in the trade. Bumus told me rather forlornly that he hadn’t sold anything for over 30 minutes and he was getting just a little bored. He cheered up a little when I asked for a double choc Magnum – I am just that sort of guy you see.

In keeping with this theme, I thought I would find out how those people who help make the Championship happen are coping with the extreme weather. Katherine and Will are two seriously long-suffering off-course marshals. “Well I got sun stroke on Wednesday, forgot my wet-weather trousers on Thursday and caught a cold and now I feel like an artic warrior,” said Katherine, somehow with a smile. Will was rather happy with their new position though, just to the side of the 15th fairway, manning a walkway because; “you get to sit down here!” I would have taken my hat off to them both if I didn’t fear it blowing away.

Alan and Margaret meanwhile were far too hardy for seats with Alan declaring that “this was true links weather.” A statement befitting the current captain of Eastern Lodge Golf Club. The pair have been marshalling Open Championships for 15 years and seemed like the only people truly relishing the gusting gales. It’s all about layers Margaret told me, looking rather disapprovingly at my jumper and t-shirt combo. She had a good point.

So pleasantly surprised to find the true heroes of the Championship reassuringly optimistic I had a quick check on how the conditions were affecting the players. First stop of course had to be Monty. It proved a brief stop actually because as I arrived on the 16th tee the wind took his gentle fade and sent it soaring into knee-high bund. His response was suitably unpublishable and after yesterday’s trauma I thought I would move on.

As Mr O’Hagan insightfully pointed out in an earlier posting, putting in this wind is a real challenge. Having witnessed four three-putts out of the first six groups I saw on 17 I can concur.

The other thing that makes golf so wonderful and yet so difficult here are the towering dunes. As I wandered down the 10th with John Rollins and Doug Labelle II of the USA each hump was met with a massive gust of wind, enough to immediately cause us all to hunch down and of course hold on to our caps. What this kind of topography does to the ball became clear very quickly with Rollins seeing his hack out of the rough almost travel backwards as it climbed above the dunes.

Backwards shots, now ever Tiger can’t do that…