So I fixed up a meeting with Ross Fisher's swing guru Kristian Baker, the head of instruction at Wentworth.

This is the man who has coached Fisher from a raw, big-hitting amateur to fifth at this year's US Open, topping the greens in regulation stats for the week.

Fisher also led the Open by three shots early in the final round at Turnberry, only to slip away, but he has won twice on the European Tour in only five years as a pro.

I'll aim to get to the bottom of all of these questions and see if I can't bag a few swing tips to share around while I'm there.

So if you want to know how you build a top Tour pro, what makes Ross tick, what a typical coaching session is like, or just get some advice on your own game, send your questions in and I'll put the best to Kristian.

And if we all come out of the exercise having shaved a couple of shots off our next round, it'll have been worth it.

Like a pirate ghostship, our nemesis emerged silently, stealthily from the mist when we were least expecting it.

For two-and-a-half days we had managed to keep her at bay. But in the Irish Sea, she reeled us in. Now it was a dogfight to the finish.

We were sailing back from the Fastnet Rock off southern Ireland in the 608-mile Fastnet yacht race, a crew of seven young hotshot sailors and me on board 60ft ocean racer Artemis the Profit Hunter.

An encouraging start, and our 33-year-old skipper Simon "Lovely" Clay took us out to the south east in search of more wind to get a slingshot west.

"We're in the glamour here boys," he said as the plan looked to be paying dividends.

But racing to beat the adverse tide around Portland Bill the wind went light and shifty and we lost touch with the leading pack. Another of Britain's leading yachtswomen Dee Caffari on Aviva, as well as Akena and Safran, also went through. But we were still ahead of the well-known Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss. There was a friendly rivalry there, and scores to settle.

In the early evening we ate a freeze-dried meal and then settled into the watch system. Three hours on - driving the boat at maximum speed, tacking or gybing, changing sails, keeping an eye on the opposition; three hours off - slumping into a bunk in the black, stripped-out carbon interior.

Sleep, to begin with anyway, doesn't come easily with the crashing, groaning, creaking and banging of a boat slogging upwind. The first wake-up call defies belief. That can't be three hours already.

Into Monday we passed Plymouth, Falmouth and Land's End and by evening we were leaving the Scilly Isles to port.

On watch at 0500 on Tuesday we witnessed a spectacular sunrise over the Irish Sea in perfect sailing conditions. Hard to believe this was the stage for the tragic 1979 disaster when a furious storm led to the loss of 15 lives.

Race record holder Leopard, a 100ft monster, flew past us on her way back, followed by the leading Open 60s - Artemis II, BT and Pindar.

We rounded the rock in seventh at 1413 BST on Tuesday and were soon hoisting the spinnaker, unleashing 370 sq m of downwind power.

Hugo Boss was still visible in the distance but 15 miles behind.

"There's no way they'll be able to do 18 knots in 12 knots of breeze like this," said crewman Olly Young, who had sailed with Thomson.

We relaxed and enjoyed the ride, everyone up on deck, spirits high as we surfed along, trying to get her over 20 knots.

"We've had 25 knots out of her," said watch leader Mikey Ferguson. "It's like skimming along a bed of stones. The adrenaline rush is the same as driving a car really fast, except that things can go very wrong, very quickly."

In race mode the spinnaker has to be played to keep it filling. This means a trimmer easing the sheet in gusts to avoid us being knocked over and another man on the winch, hauling the sheets back in to refill the sail.

Added to the noise of the sea rushing beneath the boat there's a constant dialogue between trimmer and grinder.

"Trim...hold, trim...hold, trim...big grind here... ok, hold that."

The helmsman and trimmer have to concentrate hard but for the grinders it's bursts of intense, physical effort.

"This is going to be a long night," said Olly.

We raced onwards towards the Scilly Isles, the routine punctuated by bursts of banter, treats of chocolate and a freeze-dried evening meal.

Going off watch at 2000BST I slunk into my bunk arms pumping from the effort of grinding. But three hours later, as we dressed to go back on deck, Mikey broke the bad news. "Hugo Boss is just there," he said and pointed out the window.

The Profit Hunters had been hunted.

"It happened about an hour go. We just saw this glow start to appear behind us. I still can't believe it," added Mikey.

Lovely's reaction was less printable, but watch leader Andy Tourell said: "This should give us an extra bit of motivation."

We poured ourselves into keeping the boat sailing at maximum speed in the best direction possible.

The placing in the race didn't matter so much, but Thomson's would be a notable scalp.

The wind was up and down, between about 10 to 18 knots. When it was stronger they surged forward, in the light stuff we clawed our way back.

"We're match-racing in Open 60s," laughed Lovely. "Come on, little boat."

By dawn Boss had pulled ahead, but the lead was not insurmountable and we enjoyed a brief renewal of hope when they gybed short of Falmouth and sailed way out to the south.

Artemis the Profit Hunter could sail closer to the wind under spinnaker so we could possibly travel a shorter course and eat into their lead.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out. Boss hooked into a band of pressure and the wind direction changed to knock us off course.

Back in shorts and T-shirts for the first time since the first day, we crossed the line an hour behind them in eighth at 1413BST on Wednesday, a time of three days two hours.

"It's disappointing not to have beaten Hugo Boss but we did well to be up with the leading pack for so long," said Lovely. "It's an eight-year-old boat competing against the brand new breed of Open 60s."

The two-handed BT won the Open 60 class in two days 17 hours, while Leopard took line honours in two days 11 hours.

We may have lost the battle with Boss, but we survived the Fastnet unscathed and that's the main thing.

You can read my Twitter feed from the race at www.twitter.com/robhodgetts.

My thanks go to Lovely and his crew for all their help and for making me feel very welcome on my first Fastnet Race.

Artemis the Profit Hunter crew: Simon "Lovely" Clay, Andy Tourell, Mike "Mikey" Ferguson, Olly Young, Sam Goodchild, Ben Rogerson, Oscar Mead

What better way is there to spend a few lazy days in August? Beats watching England play cricket anyway. Where do I sign up?

Actually, I already have after bagging myself a spot on a boat in the infamous Rolex Fastnet Race from Cowes to the Fastnet Rock off southern Ireland and back to Plymouth.

I say infamous for good reason - the cavalier attitude is just a front. This is the event that exactly 30 years ago witnessed one of the worst disasters in yacht racing history.

Fifteen sailors died as pleasant summer weather at the start gave way to horrendous storm-force winds and mountainous seas which battered the fleet.

Obviously we don't want that. But nor do we want no wind. It's not called the Slownet is it?

I'm racing on a 60ft yacht called Artemis the Profit Hunter, an Open 60 and the type of boat used in the round-the-world Vendee Globe race among others. Star British yachtswoman Sam Davies is sailing on our sistership, Artemis II.

The Profit Hunter is skippered by 33-year-old Simon "Lovely" Clay and crewed by a crack team of aspiring young professional sailors - Oscar Mead, 19, Sam Goodchild, 19, Olly Young, 21, Ben Rogerson, 25, Mikey Ferguson, 26, and Andy Tourell, 31.

The boat's older than some of the others in the class but "Lovely" reckons there's some scalps to be had. Not least that of Ms Davies.

"It is a race. There's no point in being out there if we aren't trying a bit," he said with a glint in his eye.

I'll let you know how he got the name and just how lovely he is when he's screaming at me to grind harder or get up after a couple of hours' sleep at three in the morning.

Now, I've done a bit of sailing and can tell the pointy bit from the blunt end but I've never raced at night or operated on a watch system.

We'll be doing three hours on, three hours off with three sailors on each watch. As skipper, Lovely will float and I'll try to spend time on both watches.

But as well as the sexy stuff such as finding out what it's like to go fast and surf down waves - at night - I'm also interested in the minutiae.

How, as a notorious early-morning grump, will I cope when I'm woken up for my watch?

"You'll be amazed how quickly you slip into the routine," says Mikey. Reassuring words. But how quick's quick? We've only got a few days.

And what about ablutions? On a stripped-out racer such as Artemis, there's no "heads" (the nautical term for toilet) - it's the old bucket and chuck it method.

But that means doing your number twos in the main cabin, amid slumbering crew, and then wandering past the on-watch to dispose of it. Nice. (I should point out, the term "cabin" rather glams up what is a spartan carbon black hole containing mainly just a computer, some buttons and lots of wires).

Then, for a speccy clown like me, how do ocean racers get their contact lenses in when the boat's bucking like a bronco? In fact, if you're only grabbing sleep in batches of a couple of hours at a time, how often do you change lenses? It would cost a fortune to slip in a new pair of disposables for every watch. But if you just stick with the specs, how do you see without permanent windscreen wipers? Anyway...

There's other aspects that have always intrigued me. What will we eat? How often? And who will hand me my morning tea?

Only slightly more importantly, there's the question of how do you get on with seven strangers thrust together on a 60ft yacht for three or so days? Do you run out of chat? Do their habits annoy you? Is it actually you driving everyone else mad? Well, we're about to find out. The hard way.

The weather is expected to be light winds (8-13 knots) for the first day or so, with maybe a bit more puff after that, followed by light airs again when a new high moves into position.

"We'll be working our socks off to start with to maintain our boat speed, then it could get a bit more feisty in the Irish sea and hopefully if we round the rock early enough we'll get a good downwind sleigh ride home," said Lovely.

Good. I like toboganning. And I've always liked the idea of offshore racers stepping straight off the boat into the bar for a beer and a steak.

Whether it will be open at 3am is another matter. Whether I'll be able to keep my eyes open is more to the point.

The race for our class of Imoca 60s starts at 1200 BST on Sunday and I'll be Twittering constantly from the boat, coverage permitting (ominously, I lost signal for a spell on the train down from London), so follow our progress here (www.twitter.com/robhodgetts).

You can also track the race here: http://fastnet.rorc.org/2009-fleet-tracking.html. Bare in mind, though, that sometimes boats drop off the tracker for a while. It doesn't necessarily mean we've sunk. And if we have, I'll Twitter about it.

The world number one, chasing his 15th major title, was the overwhelming favourite after winning three times in his eight events since returning from knee surgery.

But he looked out-of-sorts from day one and skulked home early after missing only his second cut in 48 majors.

We caught up with BBC Sport's golf experts to hear their views on Woods:

"I think his problems are quite small, but he's won all these things without any help from me. When he tries to hit it too hard he goes up and down. He just does elementary things, I think. If he just stood up and swung he would be OK. He came, he saw, Tiger Tiger was not burning too bright. That's the end of it."

Ken Brown:
"He's obviously been practising his down-the-shaft driver, trying to get a little slidey cutty one from left to right. But on a few tee shots the ball started left and went further left.

"Coming into the second round I thought he would either come up with something, or the breeze would accentuate the problems, and it was the latter.

"His tee shots off the 9th and 10th were scary bad ones - he pushed those right as he was frightened of pulling them.

"To say there is something fundamentally wrong with Tiger would be ridiculous - he has won three times this year - but to see him not make the cut was a huge shock.

"Although he says it is, I don't think his swing is quite as good as it was in 1999 and 2000. But you kind of feel like you're criticising God.

"He's trying to get fast from the top, and there's also a lot more head movement. With his old swing he would swing around the hub of the wheel, around his neck, and nothing much moved. It was a very uncomplicated action. Now, as he comes into the ball his head goes down and as he's hitting it he straightens up and it goes up.

"Hank Haney, his coach, was a big Ben Hogan fan and it appears they are trying to move his swing to a slightly more Ben Hogan style of playing.

"You can't play well every week and this was a blip but he's not far awry. Lady luck was also against him. But if your game is not right, with tricky conditions and a little bit more tension, golf can find you out.

"But you still thought on 18 he would chip in and make the weekend. That's the miracle man he is."

Mark James:
"He played extremely poorly and the stats do not lie. He was 98th in greens-in-regulation for the first two rounds out of the 156-man field and that's not good enough.

"He was just about managing to hang on to most of his iron shots but on the longer stuff he wasn't swinging well enough to hit the shots that a golf course of this difficulty demands.

"It's a surprise. Even when he's playing badly we've come to expect him to finish top 10.

"He will be thinking all the way back home about his swing and what he needs to do next. He will be wondering whether to continue working on what he has been working on, or whether to ask advice from somewhere else.

"It's difficult when you are used to working with one coach like he is with Hank, but I think maybe they have got to take a slightly different direction because he is so good at preparing himself for majors that when he looks back and thinks of how he played this week, it will hurt him.

"In my opinion there is too much movement of the head. It goes down a lot at the start of the downswing, and up at impact, which is too soon.

"He is swinging a little flattish with the longer clubs and in his heyday he was much steeper with the club on the way back which I preferred; I felt the club face was square for a longer period during the swing.

"He is trying to get rid of the leg snap to ease pressure on his left knee, but it's a question of how to fit that in to the rest of the swing. The way he was swinging this week it wasn't really taking pressure off the left knee, if anything it was putting pressure on it because he was jumping at the ball to try and square the club face up.

"Using a lot of irons off the tee would have been perfect for him but when the wind gets up on a course like this you simply have to get the bigger stuff out and that is what found him out eventually."

Wayne Grady:
"He's been struggling for a while with his swing, even back at the Masters, and it's a testament to how brilliant the guy is that he finished sixth. He won at Memorial after keeping the ball on the fairway off the tee, which has been his problem, came sixth at the US Open and won his tournament at Congressional.

"So somewhere in there he's played some great golf, but under the pressure of the Open and the tougher weather he got shown up. There's definitely something in there he needs to work on. The ball is not taking off on the right line. He and Hank need to get together and work it out.

"He'll come back with a vengeance, but it's not the Tiger of 2000 when his swing was incredible and he never looked like hitting a poor shot. Now he looks vulnerable, especially when the weather's bad.

"The swing is very different - it's on a different plane, the position at the top of the backswing is different. He's so strong that when he goes at it about 70%-80% he can get away with everything. But when he tries to go at it hard it just comes apart a bit.

"No-one thinks his way around the course better than Tiger so it's nothing about his game plan. The ball's just not going where he's looking."

One is playing in his 32nd Open Championship. The other is playing in his first and has never even been to Britain before.

But they demonstrated at Turnberry on Friday that steering the golf ball into the right places is ultimately what counts.

Marino, meanwhile, only found out he was in the tournament on Sunday, and only played his first ever round of links golf in practice on Tuesday.

He discovered it was to his liking, though, and the 29-year-old from Florida set the clubhouse lead at five under.

That seemed to dispel Watson's earlier notion that experience is the key to links golf and to Turnberry.

But the eight-time major winner rallied mid-round and joined his countryman back on top of the leaderboard going into the weekend.

Watson did it his way, drawing on knowledge and a competitive instinct honed over the years. Marino just said he was "having a blast", proving that both methods work fine if you play well.

As if to illustrate the point, 2003 champion Ben Curtis emphatically didn't.

Like Watson at Carnoustie in 1975, Curtis won as an Open debutant, but on Friday collapsed from tied second overnight to a 10-over 80, 15 strokes worse than round one.

Marino said: "I've never played anything like this before today. It was absolutely brutal weather."

Hunkered down under a woolly red hat all day, he added: "Obviously it's an advantage to have experience, but it can also be an advantage to not have experience."

A little knowledge is sometimes a dangerous thing, but it would have also told him that Friday's briskish winds and occasional showers were nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Watson appeared weary and looked his age in his post-round news conference. His head rested on his hand, his eyes less sparkly than earlier in the week.

He revealed that playing partner Sergio Garcia had tried to chivvy him up on the 8th.

"Come on, old man," said Garcia. "I feel old," he told the Spaniard.

But he turned things around, and the countenance might be an awareness that things are getting serious.

Rather than a heart-warming curtain raiser and a trip down memory lane, he now has a realistic chance of winning.

"The one thing I'm doing very well is I'm putting the ball in the fairway," said Watson, who had his left hip replaced last October.

Not for the first time, he spoke of how spiritual this week was for him.

"I guess the memories are with me, all the wonderful memories I've had of playing links golf," he said.

"You know, walking down the fairways, walking up onto the greens, people showing their respect for me, showing my respect for them. It's been since 1975, 34 years I've played links golf. And it's a fabric of my life.

"To be able to be doing what I'm doing out here, making a few lucky putts here and there and still feeling like I have a chance to win, that's pretty cool at age 59. That's why it's kind of spiritual."

It won't be part of his life after next year, though, if the R&A stick to their guns and enforce the age cap of 60 for past champions.

Watson was asked whether, given the fact that just two years from his marching orders he is leading the Open, he thought this was crazy.

"Talk to Peter [Dawson, boss of the R&A]," said Watson, accompanied by that familiar wide-mouthed smile. What's not clear is what happens if he wins.

If it wasn't for Watson, the story might be another former champion Mark Calcavecchia, who is just one stroke behind aged 49.

Experience again? Well, behind him are Ross Fisher playing just his third Open, and Kenichi Kuboya his second, alongside hardened campaigners Jimenez, Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh.

So it all comes back to just playing well whoever you are, though the pressure has yet to really begin yet.

And for one man, it won't.

"I hit some bad tee shots, a couple of bad iron shots, didn't get it up and down. Kept making mistake after mistake."

That was Tiger Woods. The world number one will miss the weekend for only the sixth time ever in a professional tournament and only the second time in 49 majors.

No talk of asterisks is needed this time, though, following the ridiculous whispers head of Royal Birkdale that it should be starred as being without Woods, who was injured.

He turned up this time and couldn't hack it.

A rookie and an old boy could, though.

The 29-year-old from Florida soared to the top of the leaderboard with a second-round 68 as five-time Open champion Tom Watson struggled and 2003 winner Ben Curtis suffered an horrendous 10-over round of 80.

But not only is this Marino's first ever visit to Britain, today represents only his fourth round of links golf ever. That's two practice rounds and now two tournament rounds.

Marino - no relation to former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan - was the second reserve for the tournament and found out that he was in for Shingo Katayama at the John Deere Classic in Illinois on Sunday morning.

"I didn't have any warm clothes, he said. "I didn't have a passport. I had to fly my dad from Virginia to my house in Florida so he could get the passport and FedEx it to me.

"He left Friday morning and flew back Friday night.

"When I found out I got in, I was super excited."

Hacks like us love the "American golfer in Scotland" story - remember Boo Weekley at Carnoustie? Well, all the usual questions came out.

"Have you tried driving on the other side of the road?"

"No, I think that's a bad idea, I'm not going to try that."

"How about the food?"

"The food's OK. I haven't tried haggis, but I don't think I will. It doesn't look that great."

"What have you had?"

"Pasta, cheeseburger, steak. What is it, shepherd's pie? That was good."

Back to the golf, I think it was about the golf anyway, Marino added: "It can be an advantage to have experience, but it can be an advantage not to have experience."

Any significance in the fact that countryman Curtis won on his Open debut?

Friday lunchtime - For today's Day in the Life snapshot, Mark Orlovac caught up with Euan Grant, Turnberry golf course manager.

Grant, who was the head greenkeeper for the Old Course at St Andrews for the 2005 Open, describes his opening day of the 138th Open Championship.

"Alarm went at 0310 BST. We live on site so it was straight to work. Checked emails and the weather forecast before a chat with the greenkeepers on any last-minute decisions.
The team went out at 0400 to cut the greens and fairways, paint the holes and rake the bunkers.

"Followed behind to make sure the course was set up as I would like. The R&A came at 0500 to set the course up and my aim is that they have to do nothing. I was off just after nine.

"Sat down with the course and estates manager George Brown and our course owner's representative for around 20 minutes to discuss anything that came out of the morning set up.

"The set up is hard first thing in the morning and later on in the evening but during the day I am on call with the R&A rules radio in case of any issues.

"After lunch there was a call with one of the liners we use in the cups at the 6th but there wasn't a problem. The heart starts going a little when the call comes because you don't know was it is. You don't want anything to affect the play. It's about personal pride.

"Went out to watch a bit of golf in the afternoon and spoke to the rules officials on the course. Might have even closed my eyes at the desk for five minutes!

"Had the daily meeting with the R&A championship committee at 1630 and afterwards we checked the speed of a few greens. We started the course tidy up at 1830.

"The team rolled over any stud marks, repaired the greens and also cleared the crossing points. We came off the course at around 2200, tidied the sheds and made sure everything was charged ready for the next day. Checked my emails and the weather forecast before going to bed at 2300.

"There were no major hiccups yesterday. Tournament week is relatively easy for us. Touch wood. All the work is done in the lead up. As long as it does not rain heavily then we are OK.

"It is a long week and the older you get the harder it gets! But it is a wonderful opportunity to be working in greenkeeping. If you can't get excited about it then you are in the wrong job.

"It's the Open. The long hours fade into insignificance. It's fantastic."

Tip of the day

Friday morning - As a special treat we have a guest appearance from one of the great gurus of the game.

Butch Harmon used to coach Tiger Woods, now works with Phil Mickelson and is ranked first in Golf Digest's 50 Greatest Teachers.

Here's his nugget for the average player to get a bit more out of his game:

"The most common fault among amateur players is that they don't take enough club. They always take the club that requires hitting it maximum distance to get there.

"My tip would be to take one club less and swing smoothly. Instead of hitting a full seven iron, take an easy six. That way you can control your ball flight and therefore length more easily."

Follow our updates from the Open on Twitter (www.twitter.com/robhodgetts or www.twitter.com/markorlovac). And send in any questions you may have about the Open and we'll try to get answers for the best.

The 28-year-old is poised to dash back to Surrey the moment he hears his wife Jo is about to go into labour with their first child.

But Fisher compiled a solid 68 in tough Turnberry conditions to climb into a very promising position at halfway in the 138th Open Championship on Friday.

And he faces an agonising choice should the call come over the weekend.

In May he lost out to Paul Casey for the PGA Championship at Wentworth and in June he finished fifth in the US Open at Bethpage.

But as playing partners Mike Weir and Ben Curtis went backwards at a rate of knots at Turnberry on Friday, Fisher forged on, climbing to three under par.

"One of his strongest attributes is his mental belief in himself and his ability not to get upset on the golf course," Fisher's long-time coach Kristian Baker, head of instruction at Wentworth, told me.

"I've never once seen him throw a golf club or shout in frustration and I'd challenge anyone to find that on tape or anything. If he hits a bad shot it's almost like he's straight away thinking about the next shot.

"He never ever gets emotional on the golf course. If he has a birdie you never see him get too excited, if he has a bogey you never see him get too frustrated."

Baker has worked with Fisher for about eight years and guided him from the Wentworth academy, on to the Challenge Tour and to three shots adrift in a US Open.

"The reason that he's got to be a very good player is because he hits it immense distances and is a very, very solid driver of the ball," said Baker.

So what was it that he first saw in the young Fisher?

"What stood out at the very beginning was his ability to hit the ball a long way and still hit it straight," Baker said. "He would stand on the practice ground and hit it as far and as hard as he possibly could. But he would still keep it on the planet."

Baker says Fisher's golf swing has developed a lot in their time together but he stresses that all the changes have been made very slowly.

"In the last five years we've changed a lot but small changes can have a big difference in terms of where the ball goes and therefore his scoring average," said Baker.

"His ball striking is now more consistent, his ball flight is more consistent and his ability to control distance is now extremely good. He can now hit this one 160 yards and the next 165, either by gripping down the club or taking a bit off his swing. That's improved an awful lot in the last 12 months.

"He's extra-accurate off the tee for his length and much more consistent now on par threes.

"His frame lends itself to hitting the ball a long way but ultimately he hits it hard and out the middle of the golf club.

"It's a confidence in the technique. If you feel confident and comfortable you can hit the ball hard. If there's any doubt, you're going to ease off and try to guide the ball."

Baker works behind the scenes with a physio and a biomechanist to assess Fisher's body and work out how they can make his swing better. The changes are then fed to Fisher in simple steps, just like a lesson an 18 handicapper would have.

"We're looking to improve his mobility and stability on the lower body and that's really where we'll be focusing in the next 18 months," said Baker. "We're looking to create a much more solid platform to work around.

"He will be starting to work out much more heavily, too, but that's further down the line. If you look at Tiger Woods, the first thing to create before putting on the bulk is the right range of motions. For example, the amount of rotation in your hips is very influential in the golf swing.

"So you need to sort that out before going to the gym and working on the biceps. We've got to build the engine for the car. Once we've got that we can put on the bling wheels and wide arches."

Baker is in no doubt that Fisher is ready to win a major tournament and reckons he could win any one of them.

"When you hit the ball so long and straight off the tee I don't think there's a golf course that doesn't suit him," he said. "And he's got the imagination that links golf requires. You need all your things to click in one particular week, but he has got the game to win at the highest level, unquestionably."

Fisher said after his second round at Turnberry that his performance in the US Open last month has given him the belief to know he can compete, and beat, the very best.

"Every time you walk away from a US Open disappointed with coming fifth, you know you're doing something right," he said. " I felt I had a really good chance to win but I just didn't quite pull it off and putts didn't quite drop. But I didn't feel like I threw it away, so I'll take those positive thoughts and hopefully put them into good use for the next few days.

"I think my game's ready to win the biggest and best tournaments."

His game might be ready; the question is whether Mrs F is ready. She was due on Tuesday. Fisher's phone remains switched off when he is playing but his manager Conor Ridge is in constant touch.

So have they discussed names, maybe something linked with Turnberry or the Open if he wins?

"We have talked about it," Fisher admitted. "We've not entirely ruled it out, but I'd be surprised. You couldn't really call it Claret Jug Fisher could you?"

Follow our updates from the Open on Twitter (www.twitter.com/robhodgetts or www.twitter.com/markorlovac). And send in any questions you may have about the Open and we'll try to get answers for the best.

Turnberry offered as benign a test as she is ever likely to and five-time Open champion Tom Watson took advantage to lead for most of the opening day.

The winner of the famous Duel in the Sun at Turnberry in 1977 was pipped for the overnight lead late on by Miguel Angel Jimenez, but Watson proved that experience, guile and charm often works better with the ladies than muscles and flash clothes.

Whether the venerable veteran can pull the same trick on Friday is largely dependent on what mood the old girl is in and whether his ageing body can remember the moves.

"The lady was defenceless, but she's going to bare her teeth," said Watson, who looked for all the world like he did in his pomp, but with a slightly more lined face and less flared trousers.

The American's 65 was later equalled by fellow American Ben Curtis, the 2003 Open champion, another man who knows how to plot his way around a links course and avoid the pitfalls of sucker pin positions.

That other former Open winners Mark Calcavecchia, 49, and Mark O'Meara, 52, also finished within three of Jimenez's lead lends further weight to the argument.

Kenichi Kuboya's late flourish, picking up five shots in his last four holes, to join Watson and Curtis will only have rubbed salt into the wounds of those who struggled.

A stiffer breeze over the next few days might take it out of the older generation's hands, as holes appear to lengthen and distance becomes key.

But Watson carded an admirable 74 in truly atrocious first-round conditions at Royal Birkdale last year, a tournament that will forever be remembered for the performance of 53-year-old Greg Norman, who led going into the final day before finishing third.

Watson sees no reason why he can't continue in the same vein, insisting that he is far from a ceremonial golfer at Turnberry.

"I'd take a chance in a howling gale," said the three-time Senior British Open champion. "This is my sixth championship here. You get to know the course. There are certain shots out there that the kids are unfamiliar with.

"I still feel I can compete against the kids here. I'm a ceremonial golfer at Augusta. I admit that."

What of Tiger Woods, the 14-time major champion and three-time Open winner? The world number one was red-hot favourite before the tournament began but has seven shots to make up on the leader.

Woods cut a frustrated figure as he stormed straight back to the range but he knows he just needs to keep edging closer, rather than doing anything rash, to make sure he is in situ for the weekend.

And Padraig Harrington, chasing a third straight Open in a row? The Irishman, who has missed five cuts in the last six, carded a one-under 69. Before the start he said he could still win if he gets into position on Sunday. He's certainly laid a decent foundation.

"While I wasn't shooting the lights out, it gives me hope for the next few days," he said.

The much-hyped British challenge got off to a low-key start. Englishmen Anthony Wall, Lee Westwood, David Howell and Paul Casey were the pick going into Friday at two under, while Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell will also resume four behind.

Spain's Sergio Garcia, who led after each of the first three rounds in 2006 before losing out to Harrington in a play-off, is one shot further adrift as he continues his search for a first major title, as is Northern Irish sensation Rory McIlroy.

But Ian Poulter, second to Harrington last year and another widely tipped to do well this week, will probably be hoping it blows old boots on Friday to bring the field back. At five over, he'll need the help of others if he is to progress any further.

When it was mentioned to Jimenez that he had stolen the lead off Watson, he interrupted to say, "What a legend".

"Do you have any sympathy for that legend? You've just ruined his night," added the questioner.

"No, he's going to be a legend forever. He's a legend here with us and we have to feel very proud to play with him. And still playing at the level he plays."

Whether Jimenez still feels that way if Watson resumes his charge and regains the lead on Friday is debatable.

What's not debatable, at least according to the weather forecasting buffs, is that the lady is going to prove a far tougher nut to crack.

Thursday, late afternoon - On Twitter we have been asking you to send in your questions for us to put to the great and the good of the golfing world.

Here's some answers to the best so far:

@davethyl asks: "Do the R&A have any plans to extend the rota of courses, or are they happy with their lot? Would love to see it in Portrush."

Mark Orlovac tracked down R&A chief executive Peter Dawson, who said: "The R&A is always looking at venues but there are not very many that begin to qualify in terms of either the golf course or the infrastructure required to support an Open championship.

"Royal Portrush has hosted the Open once before in 1951 and it is clearly a wonderful golf course, there is no doubt about that.

"Whether it has the infrastructure to support the big crowds that would come to the championship or produce the commercial results that the Open needs, I think would be the issue there.

"We need a good championship result with so much of the Open's profits going to golf development programs around the world.

"We strike a balance. We have got nine very good venues at the moment and we have no immediate plans to increase it."

@NeilGood asks: "What is the most popular driver with this year's players?"

Well, having chatted to the lady who records each and every bit of equipment worn, carried or swung this week I can tell you. Although, this being the BBC, I can't actually name it. But I can say it's made by a chap called Taylor, and if I tell you I have 10 tees and then take one away then there "blank blank" left. Geddit?

@mccomb asks: "Does a ball hit by Tiger Woods travel faster than a serve by Andy Roddick? Or is a nifty Aussie bowler quicker?"

Who better to answer this one than Woods's former coach Butch Harmon. Here's what the guru told me: "Tiger hits the ball at about 175 miles per hour. That's the velocity with his general aggressive driver swing. Anything between 165mph and 175mph is about right."

Well, Andy Roddick's world record for a serve is 155mph and Aussie paceman Brett Lee whangs it down at about 93mph. So Tiger wins. Again.

Send in more questions to this blog or the Twitter pages of Rob Hodgetts and Mark Orlovac and we'll hunt out the answers to the next batch on Friday.

Wise old Watson

Thursday, early afternoon - Sitting in on Tom Watson's post-round news conference was like being in the presence of a kindly uncle.

The five-time champion still exudes grace, charm and manners. And on top of that he can still shoot 65 around Turnberry in the Open Championship.

"I can still compete against the kids," he said, grinning like one.

Watson played with 16-year-old British amateur champion Matteo Manassero, and the 59-year-old clearly enjoyed seeing the youngster take on his first Open.

"His eyes were a dead giveaway," he said. "He was definitely in awe of the place."

But Watson also hankered for old times and old friends.

"There's something slightly spiritual about today," he said. "I received a text yesterday, a modern text, from Barbara Nicklaus. She wished me good luck.

"I texted her back and said, 'You know, we really miss you over here.' And I really meant it. It's not the same without Jack playing in the tournament."

Watson, who will be inextricably linked with Turnberry for his "Duel in the Sun" heroics against Nicklaus in 1977, also relived a moment after the 1994 Open here when he and Nicklaus nipped out to play the par-three course one night.

"On Sunday we had dinner with Jack and Barbara and after a couple of bottles of wine we went out and played at about 11pm. And here comes the security man when we were just about to finish. I said, "Jack, you go talk to him. I'm not going to talk to him."

The guy walks sternly up, like he's going to run us off the course, and (seeing who it was) says, "Oh, Mr Nicklaus, carry on please."

Experience not only helps on the golf course, it provides a wealth of good tales, too.

Twit for tat

One cheeky reporter during Tom Watson's news conference said that he wasn't sure what was more impressive, the 59-year-old's score or the fact that someone of his age could send a text message.

"Don't ask me to Twit, or Tweet. I don't Tweet," said the laughing Watson.

He may not, but there's plenty who do. It's the phenomenon that's taken the world by storm.

Ian Poulter is a prolific Twitterer and has 261,780 followers and counting, while John Daly is also a massive Tweeter.

As well as virtually every media man worth his salt, including us, other illustrious names to embrace the social media revolution here at the Open include Paul Casey, Rory McIlory, Davis Love III and Stewart Cink to name a few.

No Tiger though. Although he does blog.

A day in the life...

Thursday morning - As the 138th Open Championship got under way, we went behind the scenes to get an insight into the life of the man responsible for putting the tournament together .

David Hill, the R&A's championship director, told Mark Orlovac how he spent the eve of the Open.

"Alarm went at 0500 BST, got to the course at 0530. First job - a cup of coffee!

"Started with usual check of the pay gates, car parks, catering tents and the competitors tent, which was open before I got to the course.

"Checked tented village and finalised Thursday's draw sheets. That was all done by half past seven.

"Had breakfast and from eight I had a few press interviews and meetings.

"Met the first minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, at 11am with R&A chief executive Peter Dawson and championship committee chairman Michael Brown. We were with him until midday, talking about the Open in Scotland.

"Attended R&A press conference at 1300 BST in the media tent and after that we drew up a rota for the referees and their guided tours before having lunch with my son at three.

"After four I started to wind down. Left the course at eight because of another early start.

"Had dinner at the rented house for the first time in eight days, followed by a walk on the beach to watch the sunset and then back home to bed."

We'll quiz a different personality on Friday.

Tip of the day

Watch this space for a daily tip for the average amateur player trying to get the most from their game.

The first comes from Ross Fisher's coach Kristian Baker, of Wentworth:

"It's amazing the number of times you see club golfers have no consistency in their routine and then expect consistency in their golf game. The guys on Tour are very consistent in their pre-shot routine. That's that what separates club golfers from pro golfers.

"Another good tip, although it is contradictory because there are no short-term fixes, is to take lessons. All the best players in the world take lessons and club golfers tend not to.

"Einstein said something along the lines of you can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results.

"Like all things in life, if it's going to be good you have to work at it. If you're not happy with your golf game you have to change what you do. If t's something you are passionate about and want to improve, say, your 18 handicap and get down to 14, you have to give it some dedication and time."

Follow our updates from the Open on Twitter (www.twitter.com/robhodgetts or www.twitter.com/markorlovac)