Jezzy no mates

Those who have read Neil Tappin s blog from last night will know that while my office colleagues are getting to enjoy one final golfing outing before hitting the laptops hard for the rest of the week, I m now doing my best Billy no Mates impression in the media centre at 8.10 on Tuesday morning as a result of what can only be described as a personal Hillside howler yesterday.

To rub salt into the wound, as I have no motor myself this week, I ve had to suffer the ignominy of being dropped off by the boys en route to Formby Golf Club at an earlier hour than I perhaps would have ideally liked on Open Tuesday. All I can say is that I hope the stiff Birkdale breeze turns into a full-blown gale just down the road, the threatened rain moves quickly in, and they arrive at the course just in time to witness a coach-load of camera-laden Japanese tourists teeing off ahead of them!

But ultimately I only have myself to blame my golf has gone south for a while leaving me with little desire to play anyway, and this will give me the perfect chance to really get stuck into this Open Championship.

Right now I m looking at the scheduled groupings for today s practice rounds, with one or two catching my eye:-

Like me, Monty is also down for a bit of a Billy no Mates session, heading out on his own at 4.00pm perhaps wise given his crotchety mood of late.

David Duval is out there all alone with his thoughts - and a still bafflingly absent golf game - right now.

The nations are sticking together there s an Argentine trio of Cabrera, Canete and Romero making its way round right now, a French quartet of Havret, Bourdy, Gonnet and Lima getting underway shortly and a Spanish trio of Garcia, Larrazabal and Jimenez heading out at midday.

Justin Rose looks to be picking a former Birkdale winner s brains later on when he heads out with five-time champ, Tom Watson.

The group that sounds most like a firm of solicitors is currently Poulter, Casey and Boyd. Ian could have done with a little legal advice after last week s alleged very bad word incident at Loch Lomond, but I understand the Englishman has now apparently been cleared of all charges.

Anyway, enough of all that I m off to the practice ground to see who s ripping it, who can barely hit it forwards, and who s swing is most likely to help spark a revival in my ailing golf game, before heading off for a first look at the controversial 17th green to see what all the fuss is about. Will report back later.