Paul Waring: Saturday at The Open
Learn first hand what it was like to play in these conditions as Paul Waring battles to an excellent 76 before talking to Luke Norman
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.
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And now I have got the final day of the Open Championship to look forward to I can t wait.