Open Championship diary day four: Dave Tindall and Matt Cooper report from Royal Liverpool

Scheffler watch

Dave Tindall

With so many elite groups heading out in the morning, many of them containing a player carrying my cash in some way, shape or form, it was hard to know which way to turn. But I eventually decided to nail my colours to the trio of Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood and Adam Scott.

I tipped Scheffler on the DP World Tour podcast this week at 9/1 and that’s the sort of decision which can make you look daft. If he flops you’re an idiot; if he shines, it wasn’t exactly rocket science. Basically he needs to win to justify the bet but, ultimately, I was happy to nail my colours to the world number two.

I followed Scheffler closely for the first six holes and he was putting for birdie on every one of them. With so much attention on the shortstick being his Achilles heel, this is how his performance on the greens unfolded.

• 1st Par 4: 22ft for birdie – hit a stinker short and left. Ugly effort, holed second putt from 2ft 3in – PAR
• 2nd Par 4: 30ft for birdie – rolled one up the slope which toppled in at the very death. A bonus! Maybe this lad can putt after all! – BIRDIE
• 3rd Par 4: 9ft 5in – flat putt missed right. One you feel a good putter would have holed, so often the criticism aimed at him this season – PAR
• 4th Par 4: 8ft 2in – no mistake this time. A confident stroke. Two out of four ain’t bad – BIRDIE
• 5th Par 5: 33ft 2in – a squirrelly bunker shot made the birdie an outside chance. Good lag to 1ft 2in – PAR
• 6th Par 3: 49ft 11in – Almost a bomb as his putt down the length of the green caught the lip. Tidied up from 3ft 2in – PAR

And, to be honest, without convincing me that he’s suddenly become a good putter, that was just fine. Of course, you set up birdie chances on every hole through elite ball striking and, my goodness, Scheffler was impressive. Several times he went under the wind and while Fleetwood and Scott had to scramble from fairway/greenside rough, Scheffler showed just why he’s a million miles clear in the strokes gained: tee-to-green stats this season.

Scheffler touched 3/1 in-running after that strong start before, yep, he dribbled a four-foot par putt right at 8 before turning in one-under 34. And then a miss from three feet for par at 12. Oh Scottie. A bogey-birdie trade at 14 and 15 before two-putt pars at 16 and 17 (mid-rangers that Cam Smith would hole) sent Scheffler to the final hole at level for the day. A chip-and-a-three-foot-putt birdie there got him to one-under and priced 15/2.

Verdict: After watching him live and the rest of his round on TV in the media centre/press canteen, Scheffler will come tied fifth. In other words, after watching him today I've learned absolutely nothing.

With that, over to Matt.

Tommy love

Matt Cooper

Little did we know it, but Dave and myself spent the first half dozen holes following the same group! It says much for the popularity of Tommy Fleetwood that we never bumped into each other and it was that very adoration I wished to witness, fuelled by fond memories of similar scenes at Royal Birkdale six years ago.

Then, as now, he was cheered every step of the way, sometimes by people not even on the course. The second tee, for example, sits close to the edge of the property and folk queuing to get in have their view of the action blocked but when they heard cries of “Come on Tommy, la’!” they joined in with aplomb.

For some – unlike Dave – the quality of his playing partners appeared to be a surprise. “He’s not a bad player, this Scheffler, to be fair,” said one lad walking down the fourth.

Others were tickled by Fleetwood caddie Ian Finnis. “He’s like Tommy’s minder, his heavy, isn’t he?” said a local to his friend. “Anyone messes with Tommy and Fino just gives him a stare. No messing with that.”

There was a lovely scene at the walkway between the fifth green and the sixth tee. First, a marshal asked a young fan if she wanted one of the players' tee pegs. Obviously, she did and asked whose it was. It was Tommy’s. “I’ve got Tommy’s tee peg!” she told her mum with a huge grin, little knowing her day was about to get even better. Fleetwood spotted her as he walked past and gave her a high five. “Did you get it on video, mum?” she cried. Mum had. “Best day of my life,” the girl said, her grin almost as wide as her hero’s.

It’s not difficult to see why he’s so popular and after carding a 66 he spoke about the galleries. “I’m one of them, a fan of the game, from this area,” he said. “I feel at home and the support means a lot. You can easily try too hard. But just having them egging you on, whether you’ve hit a good shot or a bad shot just pushes you on.”

Even the use of a phrase like “egging you on” makes you love him.

The absurdity of watching golf

Is there a more bewildering way to spend a few hours than going to the golf? It’s an infuriatingly mad business typified by an overheard exchange on the third which started with a fella enthusiastically supporting an average approach shot.

“It didn’t rate that applause,” his friend pointed out.

“Yeah, got a bit carried away,” the clapper admitted. “It’s the first shot I’ve actually seen all day.”

“So you were clapping because you saw it rather than because it was any good?”

“Err, yes.”

Southgate returns

Essex’s Matthew Southgate has quite a connection with the Open. His father fell in love with the championship in the 1970s, his sister was a baby in her mother’s arms in the stand behind the 18th green when Seve Ballesteros won the 1984 Open, Southgate himself was a young boy sat on a Barry Burn bridge when Jean Van de Velde lost the Open in 1999 and 10 years later he and his father made a last minute decision to drive from Southend to Turnberry to support their hero Tom Watson’s attempt to win the Claret Jug aged 59.

As a player, he made his debut at Royal Liverpool in 2014, was in hospital during the 2015 event, finished 12th at Royal Troon and sixth at Royal Birkdale.

When he didn’t qualify last year in St Andrews he commentated for Open Radio before securing a return to the action with late birdies in Final Qualifying at Royal Porthcawl.

After posting a first round level-par 71 he told me: “I really enjoyed last year but it’s just a completely different dynamic. Doing the commentating or you writing, we’re all so passionate about the Open, but I suppose if there’s a difference it’s because if you make a mistake writing or talking about the game, you can kind of laugh it off. But when you’re playing the smallest little slip up can totally ruin your day, especially here where one bad shot can cost you a double or triple.”

How has he changed since that championship debut nine years ago? “Experience,” he said. “Good experience and bad experience as well. It’s all part of maturing as a player.

“I walked off the putting green today and reminded myself that every one of these 72 holes matters the same. Forget people cheering and that it’s my first Open for five years, I had a job to do from the get-go. In 2014 I was a bit of a rabbit in the headlights.”

A shrewd judge of a course, he said: “It was tough out there, really difficult to set up birdie chances. I felt like I did the job really well, just tidying up a lot of two-putt pars really.

“The only way you can set up a birdie is to play aggressively from the tee and when you do that you bring in the risk of all sorts of numbers. If you do that all the time you’re bound to get a double or triple somewhere so you have to stick to your guns.”