The disruption to the schedule caused by the fog delays meant that just after midday the hotel bar was packed with golfers waiting between rounds with family and friends.

For the Tour's football fans that meant a rare opportunity to watch a live lunchtime kick-off.

Anthony Wall, Ross McGowan and Scott Drummond had prime seats in front of the flat-screen TV, whilst Alvaro Quiros was cheering after his fellow Spaniard Fernando Torres netted Liverpool's two goals.

JAMIE AND HIS MAGIC TROUSERS

Fans of Payne Stewart will always associate the popular American with the Belfry, specifically his ultimately flawed attempt to escape from the lake on the eighteenth hole and the sporting way he then accepted defeat to his opponent Jose-Maria Olazabal.

A little bit of the much-missed Stewart was on offer on Saturday afternoon as Jamie Donaldson strode the fairways in a pair of plus fours.

The colours were a little more muted than Stewart's famous NFL apparel but the outfit, complete with matching flat cap, made the Welshman look uncannily like the former US Open champion from a distance.

However being bold with your attire does leave you vulnerable to the wags.

When he fluffed his chip onto the third green a voice on the banking uttered: "That'll be Bertie Wooster then, not Payne Stewart."

WOOD AGAIN

Every day this week I have reported on the progress of Chris Wood.

On his front nine on Thursday morning he had a nightmare which he slowly turned around during the next 18 holes.

Returning this morning he need three birdies in seven holes to make the cut and having found two he had a 15-foot putt on the final green to complete the set.

It wasn't to be but when I chatted to him afterwards he was rightly proud of having fought back from hitting seven off the tee on his fourth hole of the event.

"It's in my nature to keep fighting," he said. "I've worked hard on my putting in the last 12 months and it paid off, keeping my score together when everything else was ragged."

ON THE TENTH

News that the tee on the short par four 10th hole had been brought forward for the third round spread quickly around the course making it the most popular spot for spectators on Saturday afternoon.

There remains some debate as to whether the hole actually "works" in a strokeplay event.

According to one caddie I have discussed it with, whereas 90% of scratch amateurs would feel compelled to attempt to drive the green, over 90% of professionals would naturally favour the pragmatic approach of laying up.

That tiny mental margin, he suggested, told you so much about the difference between the professional and amateur golfer.

But that didn't stop the fans supporting every player who attacked the green and at the end of the day the dangers of that approach were displayed by the three-ball of Johan Edfors, Graeme McDowell and Ricardo Gonzalez.

Edfors' ball landed on the putting surface and appeared to have held the fringe, only for the ball to spin out of the sprinkler head "hole" and take a swim.

He then chipped back into the water and finally departed with a seven.

Gonzalez landed on the hill to the right of the green, leaving him a devilish chip shot he sent through the green and into the water - he made bogey.

McDowell hit a superb shot to the heart of the green, but was so wary of going beyond the hole and into the water that he left the first putt short enough to miss his second.

Maybe the hard-nosed caddie was right after all.