ALL aboard. One of the delights of Carnoustie is the seamless transition from the train station to the links.
The overnight sleeper from London, for instance, pulls into the Angus toon at 6.23 am on Thursday, just 12 minutes before Sandy Lyle gets the Open underway with the first tee-shot at 6.35 am. Given the test Carnoustie will pose, some players could veer so far off track they may have to settle for a bus replacement service.
KEEP it clean. The Open will be introducing blood testing this week as part of the sport’s anti-doping procedures. With plenty of libations taken by the golf writers to ease the stresses and strains of covering the game’s oldest major, a random blood test of those in the media centre comes with ice and a slice.
Read more: Russell Knox savouring the "craziness" of a pairing with Tiger Woods at the Open
JORDAN Spieth arrived in Carnoustie to hand back the Claret Jug the other day in a futuristic Mercedes Benz concept car. According to the Concept EQ’s engineers, this all-singing, all-dancing motor is a “reinterpretation
of our design philosophy of sensual purity with the aim being to create an avant-garde, contemporary and distinctive electrolook. It’s hot and cool.”
The cooing, technical trumpetings of the designers were in full cry as all and sundry oohed and ahhed at this marvel of modern machinery. “It’s got nothing on The Herald’s editorial pool car,” muttered the diarist with a dismissive snort to one of the engineers before asking if I could borrow a foot pump to re-inflate the dodgy front right. “Oh, and do you have any jump leads while we’re at it,” came the additional request.
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