Fresh from tipping Retief Goosen at 40-1 in the US Open, our golf betting guru Dave Tindall is on hand for the whole of the 133rd Open Championship. Here he brings you the very latest news and gossip from Royal Troon.

8.30pm: That's about it from DJ and I so it's goodnight from me. And it's goodnight from him. See you at 6.30am tomorrow morning.

7.30pm: Dave John (DJ) has joined me after driving up from Leeds and we're now in the press tent with the remaining diehards. I've just spoken to another of my Scottish contacts - a man called Linksman - and he had plenty of interesting stuff to say after spending the last few days out on the course. Of all the players he's seen, it's South African duo Ernie Els and Retief Goosen who have impressed him the most while he has negatives to report against two of my tips, Padraig Harrington and Stuart Appleby. Damn.

4.30pm: My second illogical bet of the week is £20 on there being a hole-in-one. I recently re-read "The Hole In One Gang", an intriguing story about two clued-up punters who, after studying the form, realised that the chances of any of the golfers in a given tournament scoring a hole-in-one was around 50% or even money. Many local bookies didn't realise and dangled all sorts of fancy prices up to 100/1. After cleverly placing multiple hole-in-one bets across four tournaments (all proved successful), our two punters took them for a fortune - even though some refused to pay up after claiming they had been conned. That was back in the late 80s/early 90s and you couldn't pull a stunt like that nowadays. I've managed to get just over 5/4 on Betfair for a hole-in-one this week and was pleased to discover recently that Pierre Fulke managed one in the last Troon Open in 1997. It's purely a fun bet but it will give me a brief adrenalin rush every time the scorers in the press tent put their little numbers in the slots on the par threes.

4.15pm: At the 2001 USPGA in Atlanta, the first golfer I saw when arriving at the course was eventual winner David Toms. Spooky eh! Well, not really. Nevertheless, ever since then I always have a small bet on the first player I see so this year's fiver will be chucked on..... Anders Hansen. The Dane's Open record of MC-T77-MC doesn't exactly inspire confidence but I did get 390 (389/1) on Betfair.

3.45pm: So what will it take to win this week? Earlier, John Hopkins of the Times asked what two elements are the most crucial and got different answers from Ben Curtis and Adam Scott. Although both immediately said "putting", Scott stressed the importance of controlled iron approach shots, while Curtis went with good driving.

3.35pm; The press tent has just been informed that David Duval will not be coming in for interview as he's 'not available'. A shame.

3.30pm: I went out earlier for a first look at the course and "tough but fair" seems a reasonable assessment. Weather-wise it's a mix of sun, grey clouds and wind although it's only a moderate breeze by Open standards. The official weather forecast says: Thursday - Morning clouds with showers possible, otherwise mainly cloudy. Wind 4-8mph. Friday - Cloudy with showers possible by evening, continuing through Saturday. Wind 10-15mph.

3.00pm: Sergio Garcia is one of our tips this week so I'm particularly interested to hear what he says in his official press interview. It doesn't start well with Sergio admitting that his rhythm is still a bit out. But he shrugs it off as a problem that can be solved and admits he's really looking forward to the task ahead. Before heading out to play a quick nine holes, Garcia reveals that he gets good luck texts from several of the Real Madrid players, usually Ronaldo and Michel Salgado. "And Beckham?" asks a reporter, to which Garcia replies with a dead-pan "yes", thus avoiding any cheap gags about Beckham and text messages.

1.30pm: Last year's winner Ben Curtis looked in a state of shock when he came into the press tent 12 months ago. It's a very different story this time. As the press file into the interview room he's not quite lying across the table like David Brent, but he looks extremely at ease slumped back in his chair and even manages a few boyish swivels. It's fairly standard Q&A stuff but bizarrely it ends with the line: “My pigs were never that good”. Apparently, his Dad was a farmer and young Ben used to take pigs to the fare and show them around. His brother once won an award for displaying a champion pig but “my pigs were never that good”.

1.00pm: I've just attended the Adam Scott press conference and the young Australian looks in relaxed and confident mood. After missing the cut in the US Masters and US Open, Scott keeps stressing the importance of a solid start. If he gets one, I'd be tempted to have a bet in-running as Scott doesn't blink or scratch the back of his head (a giveaway sign of `I don't really believe this' according to body-language experts) when he says he knows he can finish things off on the weekend. He'll certainly need to improve on last year's opening round at Sandwich – a miserable 82. Scott explains that away by saying his putting was “such a state”, adding that he worked hard on it after that and it's been pretty solid ever since. The deafening noise of a plane passing overhead – we're on the flight path from Prestwick – briefly halts proceedings before Scott makes his exit.

12.40pm: Colin Montgomerie spoke at the golf writers' dinner last night and by all accounts was in great form. I wasn't there to witness it I'm afraid, instead spending the evening noshing a Pizza in the company of a golf punter who makes a living from spread betting. Going by the mysterious moniker of Keyser, this guy deals mainly in 18-hole match bets these days. But his `spread bet of the week' is a sell of Nick Price's finishing position at around 34.

12.20pm: I'm staying down the road in Ayr this week with a lovely couple called Bobby and Jenny. Bobby gave me a lift into Troon this morning, missing out the main traffic by taking me the sneaky local's route. Jenny is a Big Brother fanatic so will be keeping me up to date with events in the House. She likes Shell and Dan but has no time at all for whining transsexual Portu-geezer Nadia. Sporting Life colleague Dave John will be joining me later on today. So when I refer to DJ in these diary entries, don't think that I'm spending Open week in the company of Bruno Brookes.

12.10pm: 2001 Open champion David Duval was supposed to come into the press tent interview area at midday but we've just been told that he's rescheduled for later in the afternoon. After losing his form completely, Duval has hardly picked up a club in 2004 and his only competitive outing saw him shoot 83-82 and miss the cut by a mile in the US Open. Is it cruel to think that his practice round is taking longer to complete than expected?

11.30am: Good morning from Troon. I've just arrived in the press tent and negotiated those anxious early moments when you're gripped by fears of a misbehaving laptop. There are lots of fingers bashing away in here although I'm adopting a more caressing technique having shut my right hand in a door on Monday. It's amazing how many areas of your life are affected when a hand loses full power, something I was pondering whilst sat on the toilet earlier on.