In praise of Alvaro

I've just been for a wander out from the press centre, up the first and then on out a little further. It's not actually as warm as I expected and I probably should have taken a jumper. I felt like a bit of a wuss as I stood shivering away because most of the patrons are wearing shorts.

I absolutely refuse to wear shorts at a golf event. I won't play in them and I won't spectate in them either. It could come back to haunt me when temperatures get up to 90F as predicted by Sunday but, as they remain around the 70F mark today, I'll maintain the sartorial high ground.

I picked up a good fourball for a few holes - Sergio Garcia and Alvaro Quiros were taking on Adam Scott and Vijay Singh in a little match. There were some great skills on display with Sergio striking the ball particularly well. I still can't get to grips with Adam Scott using that broomstick putter - it's just not right for a classy player like him. It works I suppose, but I can't help thinking it's not really golf.

I particularly enjoyed watching the group driving the ball. It's always impressive to see the towering ball flight and incredible "hang time" these players achieve. Garcia, Scott and Singh seem to be pretty similar in terms of the distance they can shift it - A seriously long way. But not as far as Quiros, he was 20 yards past them. I stood behind him on the ninth tee and watched him launch one down and partly round the corner. It's like he's firing a bullet when he makes contact. The speed he goes through the ball is fantastic.

Yup that's where I might put a couple of quid. No Fergus, remember you then saw him chipping from the back of the 9th green, massively overcooking it and ending off down the slope at the front... But he hits it so far... It's not about distance round here, short game is key... But it just keeps going forever. Oh give in.

The par-3 contest is getting underway in 20 minutes or so and I can't wait to get out and see some of the action in that. Here's hoping Arnold Palmer has a hole-in-one! It must go on for hours as it looks to me like there are 38 groups - one every 10 minutes, that's 380 minutes, that's over 6 hours! I can't be right. I'll let you know.