TUESDAY - PRACTICE DAY

3.30pm: Unfortunately, the Golflink train and bus service that transports spectators to and from the course isn’t running today. Why not? Surely people want easy access on the practice days. So after arriving on the train from Edinburgh I had to find a local bus to get me to Muirfield. It’s about a 50-minute ride and doesn’t drop you anywhere near the course. What’s more it’s all grey clouds and there’s drizzle in the air. In golfing terms it’s a bogey at the first for my trip so far.

4pm: That’s better, some familiar faces. Walking to the press tent I pass Ken Brown and Dougie Donnelly (whose hair looks bright orange). And shortly after that Justin Rose rattles past in a golf cart. The young Englishman looks a little tense. Later I find out why. He’s paired with Tiger Woods for the first two days.

4.15pm: Anyone hoping to get a glimpse of Martina Hingis this week is in for a disappointment. The Swiss miss, current beau of Sergio Garcia, is recovering from “ankle surgery” and hasn't made the trip to Scotland.

5.15pm: On the noticeboard at the back of the press tent, there’s a white envelope with the name ‘Angus Loughran’ written on it. I’m intrigued. Is it bulging with £20 notes. Has the BBC1 betting guru accepted money from a far east betting syndicate to get KJ Choi to throw his three-ball with Monty and Davis Love? Or is it from Uri Geller telling him who will win this week?

7.30pm: On our Bettingzone.co.uk site I’ve just posted our betting preview for the week. I’m tipping Ernie Els (18/1), Sergio Garcia (20/1), Davis Love (33/1) and Justin Leonard (50/1) with a covering stake on Tiger just in case. On the spreads I’ve sold the finishing positions of that same quartet and also unheralded American Bob Estes. For those unfamiliar with spread betting, by selling Justin Leonard’s finishing position at 32, it means I think he will finish inside the top 32. The better he does the more I win and vice versa. In contrast I think it could all go horribly wrong for Justin Rose after his pairing with Woods and have bought his finishing position at 35. I’ll be paying special attention to all these seven players and will report on their progress throughout the week. I’ve put my money where my mouth is so expect phrases such as “Garcia, you’re a disgrace” or “Leonard, you owe me” over the next few days. But hopefully I’ll be running up the 18th cheering one of them to victory on Sunday. We shall wait and see.

WEDNESDAY - PRACTICE DAY

8.30am: As I left the course at 8pm on Tuesday evening, I was surprised to see Colin Montgomerie still working on his putting on the 18th green. It’s unusual for Monty to be the last to leave the course so I wondered if he really is worried about his game. I, and a crowd of about 30 spectators, watched the big Scot miss several 12 foot putts. Half jokingly, half annoyed he bellowed “I’m quitting” as another went wide, prompting nervous laughter from the crowd. Monty then tried his luck from 35 feet and after coming up woefully short with his first few lag putts he drained one into the middle of the cup. Interestingly, Monty is due to have his official press conference at 9am this morning so it should be interesting to gauge how confident he feels ahead of Thursday's start.

9.30am: Colin Montgomerie is two-and-a-half stones lighter than he was at Lytham last year he revealed in his press conference today. Monty tipped the scales at a hefty 17-and-half-stones at the 2001 Open but this time he’s below 15. Monty revealed that he’d had to shed the pounds due his ongoing back problems. “The back is a concern but it was fine yesterday and is okay right now,” Monty explained. Despite the rather personal questions about his weight, Monty appeared in relaxed mood although digging beneath the surface you sensed he wasn’t that confident. “I plan on contending”, “I need to get into a frame of mind that I’m confident” and “I won’t get many opportunities to win majors” he said during the 25-minute question-and-answer session. Perhaps it’s not surprising when Monty remains so completely in awe of Tiger Woods. “If HE plays well, the opportunity (of winning) won’t arise,” said a resigned Monty. And when asked: “You play your best, he plays his best, who wins?” Monty’s reply of “he does” was knee-jerk. “Nine times out of ten or ten times out of ten?” continued the questioner. After a slight pause, “about that” said Monty with a smile.

10am: The weather continues to be grey and overcast here at Muirfield although the winds have yet to get going. But keen weather-watcher Colin Montgomerie revealed that a northerly wind was set to blow this week and said if it did the winning score wouldn’t be lower than 10-under. On Muirfield’s par 71 that means he doesn’t expect anyone to shoot better than 274. Interestingly, Chandler go 13/8 for the winning score to be over 273 so if you believe Monty’s advice get your money on now.

11am: I've just shared a bacon sandwich (£2.15) with PA reporter Phil Casey in the press tent canteen. He said there's a number of the press pack expecting big things from Nick Price this week. But Phil has put his money on Darren Clarke. Here's what he said: “It's hard to see past Tiger but 7/4 is just too prohibitive. A far better value bet is Darren Clarke. He was third last year, is in reasonable form and I took some 50/1 last week (he's now a top 40/1). I think he'll definitely give each-way backers a run for their money.”

11.30am: Darren Clarke is set for his official press conference any moment now but I'm going to head out to the course for the first time and try to follow some of my tips in their practice rounds. According to the sheet, Justin Leonard and Davis Love are both out there now although practice starting times are notoriously unreliable. At 2pm this afternoon, Phil Mickelson will be lined up in front of the press. The left-hander is always worth listening to and will make a great analyst in the future. I've pretty much dismissed his chances this week as he's never managed a top ten in the Open. Perhaps he can convince me otherwise. As for Clarke, transcripts of all the press conferences are laid out in racks at the back of the press tent so I'll check later to see what he said.

2pm: Having walked the course for the first time, it seems that conditions at Muirfield couldn’t be calmer. Limp flags, moist greens and only intermittent drizzle suggest that scores could be low for the first couple of days at least. Latest weather forecasts suggest a clear day on Thursday, rain on Friday before it "deteriorates" over the weekend. It’s not obvious yet what the ideal pair of starting times are.

2.30pm: World number two Phil Mickelson is certainly talking a good game ahead of his latest bid to win a major. With his usual scientific analysis the left-hander explained in his press conference that he’s figured out the reason why he’s never managed a top ten in an Open in nine starts. Responding to the question why his record was so poor, Mickelson revealed that his iron play wasn’t good enough. In short he puts too much spin on the ball and it grabs rather than releases to the hole. In British Opens, where it’s necessary to land the ball in front of the green and let it roll to the pin, Mickelson, like his chances of victory, is coming up short. Mickelson reckons he’s spent a year and a half trying to reduce his spin rate and he’s ready to reap the benefits this week. He feels this is his best ever chance but let slip towards the end of his interview that he feels that way every year. A number of the press seemed less than convinced and the smart money says his first major will come in America.

3.15pm: Prior to the Mickelson interview, I was out on the course trying to gain some clues from the practice rounds. Is anyone absolutely on fire and knocking the pins out or is someone looking way off the mark? Despite only getting a fleeting glance of each group, here’s a quick rundown. First sighting was John Daly who, after splitting the fairway off the tee, lost one in the thick stuff with his first approach and hit his second into a greenside trap. Jim Furyk's chipping looked slightly clumsy as he practiced from just off the green while the best two shots I caught were an approach from Scott Hoch to six feet at the 11th and, most pleasingly given that he’s one of our tips this week, a towering iron from Davis Love at the last which threatened the hole. Five-time Open champion Tom Watson also took the eye with a fine approach to 14 followed by a successful 12-foot birdie putt. The Aussies looked in jovial mood, to begin with at least. After a great tee-shot to the par 3 16th, Robert Allenby printed to the portaloo but, showing too much haste, crashed his head on the door. Compatriot Stuart Appleby upset his balance further by rocking the toilet back and forth while Allenby tried to go about his business. Up at the green a dizzy Allenby, perhaps unsurprisingly, missed his birdie while Appleby’s putting looked woeful. The larking about suddenly seemed to stop after that. But a Japanese foursome featuring Shigeki Maruyama was full of quips and banter. Maruyama, a winner on the US Tour earlier this year, is paired with Tiger Woods for the first two rounds so you should get plenty of chances to see his flashing smile. And with his dyed hair, Maruyama’s caddie looks like he belongs in Japan’s World Cup squad. Maruyama's putting certainly looked on the ball.

4pm: Two players with contrasting form and expectations this week are Michael Campbell and Jose Maria Olazabal. Campbell, after winning in Ireland two weeks ago and finishing sixth in the Scottish Open, says his confidence is “very, very high”. The Kiwi, who led the Open after the third round in 1995, says his game looks right in tune after working closely with coach Jonathon Yarwood (no relation to 70s light entertainer Mike we’re informed) and (unlike Mike) thinks he can make a great impression. ”I tried to imagine walking down the last with a three-shot lead. I am a dreamer and I believe in dreams coming true,” waxed the Maori. Olazabal, by contrast, appears all gloom and doom. “To be 100% honest, the form has not been all that good for the past few weeks. The bad habits have come back,” he whined. The Spaniard finished 10th and third in the 1987 and 1992 Muirfield Opens but reckons his form was much better back then. Ollie often tends to write himself off but on this occasion his pessimism seems justified as his sparkling early-season form has vanished.

4.15pm: I've just bumped into BBC betting guru Angus Loughran outside the press tent. So where is Statto's money going this year? Although he admitted to not having a serious plunge, his cash for the 2002 Open is on Davis Love and Nick Price. Just as I was about to ask him about the mysterious envelope with his named on it, Clare Balding walked past and I lost his attention.

6.30pm: The skies have brightened at Muirfield in the last few hours although the majority of the 156-man field are now back at base planning for tomorrow’s big tee-off. A completive wander around a pretty much deserted course has left me thinking just how many players could be in the shake-up this week. A constant theme running through the players’ interviews is that, with the emphasis on accuracy, there are so many potential winners. It’s fairly normal at this stage to start panicking about the players who you haven’t put money on. Two of them I caught at the par five 17th around 5.15pm – Jesper Parnevik and Vijay Singh. Parnevik, an eternal bridesmaid in the Open, is 66/1 to triumph this week and if he wins at that price the self-recriminations would go on for months. But his form is poor and reassuringly, in the brief glimpse I got of him, he missed the fairway twice and lipped out a short-range putt. He was still on the practice putting green when I walked past just after 6pm. Singh, meanwhile, was out on the range thrashing ball after ball – a familiar sight. He too is struggling for form and although his swing looked smooth he was muttering constantly.

7.15pm: That’s it for the day. A few stragglers remain on the driving range but now it’s just a question of counting down the hours. I can’t help feeling that we’re not as excited as we should be about a player having the chance to put himself one leg away from an amazing Grand Slam. Are we bored with Tiger Woods? Is he simply too good? This is a chance to witness history and yet so many people would rather see an underdog win this week. Perhaps Tiger needs to win one with a last-gasp rush rather than getting an early lead and watching his rivals collapse around him. But despite Tiger’s domination, the great thing about golf is that no-one really knows. Two thirds of the journalists polled here predict a Woods victory but that means a third see the title going elsewhere. In any other sport with a truly dominant figure that percentage would surely be over 90. Tiger tees off at 9.01am tomorrow. Personally, I can’t wait!