Mark Calcavecchia was seen enjoying himself in a hostelry at 9pm on Wednesday. Nine hours, 41 minutes later he was on the first tee of the Open Championship. The 51-year-old has always done his own thing and his own thing has often featured more pints in his preparation than holes.

The Brian Viner Interview: Legend looks back on his triumph at Royal Birkdale 50 years ago this week that helped propel the game into an international era

The Last Word

Colin Montgomerie is now the proud owner of a pair of lederhosen, but what he really wants is a place in next month's Open Championship.

Former major winners Jose Maria Olazabal and Michael Campbell will be among 288 players trying for just 12 places in The Open at the final qualifying competition next Tuesday.

Greg Norman and Sir Nick Faldo, first and second in the record-breaking 1993 Open at Sandwich, will not be involved in this year's championship at the Kent course.

He was so important for golf in Europe – he was our talisman

Golf legend Seve Ballesteros has died at the age of 54, his family have confirmed via his official website.

Whether you seek expert design or a captivating setting, the world's best courses will meet your needs.

One of the ways a hacker can endear himself to his fellow golfers, and there aren't many, is to take on the onerous task of organising an away trip.

Not being one to brag – mainly because I've never had much to brag about – I find it difficult to recount my experience on the Old Course at St Andrews last week without a note of triumphalism creeping in.

Scotland has benefited hugely from a number of American ladies, married to Scots, who have not only been generous philanthropists to a range of worthwhile causes but who have brought forthright intelligence and opinions to the life of Scotland. One such was the environmental campaigner and charity patron Sally Connally Hardie. She was on the council of the National Trust for Scotland from 1978 to 1985 (as was I from 1976-81), and she served on its executive from 1985-95. She was one of the first to argue for the Trust's role in maintaining pristine wilderness areas, such as Balmacara, Glencoe and Knoydart. One of her heroes was the Scottish-born conservationist John Muir, a man who was a legend in the United States but hardly known in Britain, who had pioneered the idea of preserving wilderness areas and established the concept of national parks in North America.

The enduring British fascination with life above and below stairs gets another stoking from Sunday, with ITV's transmission of Downton Abbey, a seven-part drama set in a grand country house just before the First World War and naturally starring, in the regrettable absence of Dame Judi, Dame Maggie Smith.