Alan Pattullo's Open Championship blog

Royal Birkdale, Wednesday, 1430hrs

The crowds began to really roll in to Royal Birkdale today for the final day of practice at the 137th Open Championship.

'Hold on to your hat' rather than 'fore' was the most uttered piece of advice heard as the wind whipped in from the Irish Sea and threatened to make this Tiger-less tournament an even more wide open competition.

"The thing about this golf course is that it doesn't run north and comes back south or run east and come back west," explained John Daly, the 1995 champion, yesterday.

"It's all over the place. The holes go in so many different directions so it is going to be very difficult to judge the wind. The wind is going to dictate pretty much everything we do over the next four days, because it is not going to stop."

This is good and bad news for the fans. The wind of course makes things trickier for the players, and therefore more exciting for those watching. But the blustery conditions also help turnover, with many spectators forced to take shelter for a while in the shop and eatery marquees dotted around the course.

The famously inflated prices are back. Tartan tie? £25. A tin in which to put your tees? That'll be £9, thank you very much. But no-one seems to mind too much on a day which, it is said, attracts the nerdier golf fan, eager for one last, relatively unhassled view of Ernie Els' new stance.

For the rest of us, it is simply a case of holding on for another few hours until the championship begins in earnest, with Craig Parry, Lucas Glover and Simon Dyson the first group to head out at 6.30 am tomorrow morning.

The first shot fired in anger is eagerly awaited, particularly because it will mean an end to the re-runs of past tournaments which have been on a loop on television screens in the press tent since Monday.

It has helped make experts of us all on Open history, though the conditions mean no-one can predict with any certainty who will be added to this pantheon of greats come Sunday night.

Alan will be blogging from Royal Birkdale for scotsman.com throughout the Open Championship.