Open 2013 Diary: Junior plays in fame game

Junior plays in fame game

Lee Westwood may have been the name on everyone’s lips at Muirfield but there was a young man enjoying a lot of reflected glory. Apart from happily giving radio and TV interviews, 11-year-old Sam Westwood started the day breakfasting with his dad and practising how to sign his own autograph.

Painful day for injured Foster

One man who could not watch the action was Lee Westwood’s long-time caddie Billy Foster, who was working for South African Branden Grace. After carrying the Englishman’s bag to second place at St Andrews in 2010, Foster lost his job when he picked up a bad knee injury playing football. “I can’t stay and watch this afternoon,” he said. “It would hurt too much knowing that I could have been out there.”

Bookies enjoy the best of it

Punters lost out on two potential winning doubles on Sunday. Apart from Lee Westwood’s bid to claim the Claret Jug and see his horse Hoof It win next month’s Stewards’ Cup, there was also the possibility for him to become the second player who has been coached by Mark Roe to win a major this summer– alongside Justin Rose .

But the biggest loser was Westwood himself as he stood to land a £2 million bonus from his clothing sponsors Dunlop had he won at Muirfield.

Duncan bags another silver

Canadian caddie Lorne Duncan may have officially retired last year but his phone could be red hot in 12 months’ time from calls by young English golfers wanting to win the Open’s silver medal for the top amateur at Hoylake. Duncan was the man on the bag of Tom Lewis when he won the medal in 2011 and yesterday he steered 18-year-old Matt Fitzpatrick to glory here.

Open corner

By Graham Otway

Outfit of the week

Ian Poulter, as always, was a candidate in his own designer range, but he was outsmarted by Shingo Katayama, the 40-year-old Japanese player, who wore a pork pie hat, cream coloured shirt and tartan trousers.

Rage of the week

The R&A produced a brute of a course with thick rough, three-puttable lightning-fast greens – and cracked down on slow play. Charl Schwartzel set a bad example by smashing a club in anger on day one... and got away with it.

Quote of the week

“The Widowmaker” was the expression coined by Stevie Gallacher’s caddy, Damian Moore, about the course: “It caused so many arguments between players and their caddies every day that if we played it every year there would be a few of us gone.”

Gob of the week

Being fined for depositing a massive blob of phlegm on the green at the 2011 Dubai Desert Classic clearly made no impression on Tiger Woods. He was at it again, caught on TV spitting in disgust on the 15th.