Click here for Wednesday's diary
Click here for Thursday's diary
Click here for Friday's diary
Click here for Saturday's diary

Round Four:

8.20pm: Ernie Els comes in for interview and looks gutted. But the amiable South African accepts his fate with typical class. As Els departs, in comes Todd Hamilton and, at first, no-one seems to notice. So what do we learn about the new Open champion? Not a great deal really. He's a solid bloke and says the right things at the right time but, to me, he fits the stereotype of a USPGA winner rather than an Open champion. But what defines an Open champion anymore with Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton the newest names on the Claret Jug? What if Steve Lowery wins the next one at St Andrews? It baffles me how Americans keep winning the Open when links golf is supposed to be so foreign to them. Surely it's time that the Europeans pulled their fingers out. Anyway, I'm rambling on so it's time to bring the curtain down on what was an excellent championship. It's been a hugely enjoyable week and I can't wait for St Andrews in 12 months' time. Time to jump into DJ's Polo and make the drive back to Leeds.

7.30pm: Todd Hamilton is the Open champion! A superb up and down gives him a par at the last and Els can't force sudden-death as his birdie putt rolls agonisingly wide of the cup.

7.10pm: Advantage Hamilton as Els bogeys the 17th. It's the same situation we faced earlier - Hamilton one clear with just the 18th to play.

7.05pm: Both men par the first two play-off holes so it's still up for grabs. Apparently Hamilton has contested five play-offs in Japan and won just once!

7.00pm: So what did Phil Mickelson have to say after missing out by a shot? Talking to greenside reporters, the left-hander said: "I felt I played very well and I thought if I could get to the top of the leaderboard or tied with nine to go I thought on the back side I could make nine pars. I couldn't see that many birdies out there. What Todd and Ernie did is really incredible." But looking ahead, Mickelson revealed: "I'm looking forward to next year at St Andrews. I love that golf course."

6.50pm: I pop out to see if there's anyone milling near the clubhouse and bump into Belgian mind guru Jos Vanstiphout. I ask if he said anything to Ernie before the play-off, just as he did at Muirfield in 2002. But he shrugs and replies: "What can I say to him? He's been working his b*****ks off for this for three years. There's nothing to say." So it's different from 2002 I respond, to which Jos looks up at the skies and says: "It's up to god... I am not god." A close second though perhaps.

6.35pm: The play-off begins at the 1st. They then play the 2nd, 17th and 18th.

6.25pm: Hamilton can only make bogey. Els has a putt to win his second Open. But no, he underhits it and we have a four-hole playoff.

6.15pm: A round of applause breaks out in the press tent as Els puts his approach at the last to eight feet. Hamilton is in big trouble now as he's hacked his second from the left-hand rough to the right-hand rough.

6.06pm: Els birdies 17 and it's game on again. Hamilton leads by just one going up the last.

6.05pm: Mickelson pars the last for a well played 68 but his nine under total surely isn't going to be enough with Hamilton 11 under and on the green at 17.

6.00pm: Hamilton birdies the 16th to move two clear again. The 38-year-old has nerves of steel.

5.55pm: Levet pars the last to finish tied fifth with Love. It means our each-way payout is reduced but it's a bonus to get some returns. It looked impossible at the start of the day and even more so before Love eagled the final hole.

5.50pm: I wonder what the person who backed Hamilton at 999/1 on Betfair is thinking? Or have they laid off a long time ago?

5.35pm: Mickelson birdies 16 but is still one back as Hamilton will just not go away and a chip-in at the 14th has taken him to 10-under.

5.30pm: A superb birdie by Westwood at the last looks set to rob us of our each-way money but full credit to the Englishman for a superb weekend of golf - 68 yesterday and 67 today.

5.00pm: Extraordinary. Our 33/1 tip Davis Love holes his second shot at the 18th for an eagle and suddenly he's up to fifth and could now give us an each-way payout. There is a god.

4.50pm: Els somehow makes his par and is still far from out of this. The same can be said for Thomas Levet who is also just two back.

4.45pm: More trouble for Els as his drive lands in a bush. The ball is embedded in the gorse at about waist high so Ernie tries to swipe it out with a baseball type swing but moves it only about 10 yards. Saving par will be extremely tough now.

4.35pm: Mickelson makes a good save at nine and an even better one at 10 after flying the green. But there's big problems for Ernie Els at 10 as he makes a costly double bogey. Hamilton also bogeys and suddenly Mickelson is all alone in front.

4.10pm: Phil Mickelson does everything I expect of him by reaching the turn in three-under 33 to tie for the lead with Ernie Els and Todd Hamilton. As he makes the short walk from the practice putting green to the first tee there's plenty of well-wishing including a good luck from Shigeki Maruyama. Mickelson plays steadily to par the first three and then is just short of the green at the par five fourth. Moments earlier I'd craned my neck and seen Thomas Levet and Barry Lane both eagle the hole. The radio also informs me of a bunch of birdies elsewhere and that explains the massive roar after Tiger holed his bunker shot at the fifth. So can Mickelson produce some fireworks too? He can as his gorgeous pitch shot runs towards the flag and drops in the hole for eagle. He just misses birdies at five and six but is in great shape at the top of the leaderboard. Playing partner Goosen birdies the fourth but he's not got his A game today. I stay at the sixth and see Ernie Els and Todd Hamilton come through. Neither can make birdie and although they remain Mickelson's biggest challengers I still think it's the left-hander's day.

2.10pm: We're getting into the serious action now with the leading groups getting under way over the next 30 minutes. Despite the regrets about not going for him pre-tournament, I still want Mickelson to win this for several reasons - financial, as I've just waded in at 9/2 and also because I think he'd be a worthy addition to the list of past Open winners. We've had our Ben Curtis moment so now it's time for another world-class 'champion golfer of the year'. I'm going to follow Mickelson for the first six holes along the sea and then report back.

1.30pm: As I mentioned last night, DJ and I are both convinced that Phil Mickelson will be crowned Open champion tonight. I'm now doing that thing where you kick yourself for not backing him and it's even more frustrating given that I'd hit upon a reason why he would win and then ignored it. In my betting preview I'd said: "Americans - Justin Leonard (1997), Mark Calcavecchia (1989), Tom Watson (1982), Tom Weiskopf (1973), Arnold Palmer (1962) – have won the last five Opens at Troon annd the one thing they had in common was excellent current form. Leonard had won the Kemper Open the previous month; Calc had won twice earlier in the 1989 season and was tied fourth on his previous start; Watson had just won the 1982 US Open; Weiskopf had won three times prior to the Open; and Palmer had already notched up seven wins when he arrived at Troon in 1962. Overseas players have won the last six US Tour events so it's hard to find an American equivalent in 2004. Perhaps it would be Mickelson." What am I on about with perhaps it would be Mickelson?! Of course it was Mickelson!! and yet, because of his poor Open record, I closed my eyes to him. Of course, he may still throw it away but everything I've seen here suggests he's the one to beat.

12.30pm: At last a bit of action as Darren Clarke goes birdie-birdie-birdie to move from two over to one under. Good news if you sold his finishing position.

12.15pm: Despite the fresh wind, conditons don't seem too difficult out there although scores would suggest otherwise. Only two players are under par for the day - Alastair Forsyth (who shot a 70) and David Toms (1-under after 10) - and the 24th pair have just teed off. It suggests that if you're not right up with the leaders, a final day charge is extremely unlikely. And as for the Toms-Sabbatini two-ball. Well, we backed the one who drove into the ditch and three putted for a double bogey at the third; who three-putted again for another six at the fourth; and who double bogeyed the Postage Stamp eighth for an outward 41. Thankyou Rory Sabbatini. Walking back in I see big-boned Kenny Ferrie at the fourth and then at the third... eh, it's Kenny Ferrie again??? In fact, on closer inspection, it's Darren Clarke. Are my eyes deceiving me or is Clarkey putting on the beef again after struggling to find his timing since losing all the weight? At the second, I nearly get hit by Paul Bradshaw's drive. People around me ask hopefully if it's Ian Poulter's ball as they want to get a close-up of his latest outfit - a similar look to the previous two days but with tartan plus fours. Bradshaw punches an iron towards the green but it dribbles into a bunker on the right edge. "Wind didn't get it," he says as the ball keeps it's line - a sign that it's not blowing that hard.

10.15am: We've had a bet on the Toms-Sabbatini two-ball so we're going outside to follow them for a few holes.

9.35am: The value-for-money breakfasts in the press canteen have been one of the highlights of our week. But today's final serving left us with a bitter taste - and I don't mean we poured lemon juice on it. With no explanation, sausages were withdrawn from the menu and the offer of an extra tomato instead was quite frankly insulting. DJ was livid and refused to eat them by way of protest. The scrambled egg was also a disaster, DJ claiming it had "curdled". A Japanese journalist even photographed his plate prior to consumption, so we have evidence if we decide to take our complaint to court. If, after this ramble, you get the impression nothing is happening yet, you're right!

9.15am: It's still blustery outside and quite cold too even though the sun is out. The wind is currently into the faces of the players on the outward nine and that may help explain why the nine golfers out on the course are a combined seven over par.

8.45am: They're showing re-runs of past Opens on the TVs in the press tent and we've reached 1932. With the black and white footage and warbling 30s jazz you almost expect to see Laurel and Hardy struggling down the fairway with a piano.

7.45am: Tee-times are an hour earlier than they were yesterday so former Open champ Sandy Lyle (alongside a marker) will be hitting the first shot of the day at 8.10am.

7.30am: The weather forecast for today says "breezy and cool with a few scattered showers throughout the day". Well it's certainly breezy and cool this morning although the sun is shining through the clouds too. One of those days when you're not too sure what to wear.