Scott ready for his Open day of destiny

The calm before The Open storm…

Aussie Adam Scott is just minutes away from the most important round of his life…the 4th round of the Open Championship at Royal Lytham.

It’s the one Scott has been striving for all his life and to emulate hero Greg Norman’s two Open wins at Turnberry in 1986 and Royal St George’s seven years later.

And with a four shot lead at -11 he won’t have a bigger or better chance than today.

Hopefully he had sweet dreams – and not nightmares – as he tried to get some much needed rest before his day of destiny. And hopefully he wasn’t disturbed by a fire alarm sounding off like Big Ben in the early hours as was endured by the TG team back at our Blackpool Promenade hotel.

Scott, bidding to become the 16th different victor in the last 16 majors contested, knows he needs to stay calm and fully focused if he is to hold aloft the Claret Jug later on. One bad shot, one bad hole, one momentary lapse of concentration at a crucial time can prove oh-so-costly.

Not suggesting that he’s scared of Tiger Woods or anything like that but the Australian probably breathed a huge sigh of relief when he eventually discovered he won’t be facing Tiger in the final pairing. 

It’s highly likely he’ll feel more comfortable in the company of 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell who will nevertheless endeavour to give Scott the most uncomfortable of afternoons himself.

It promises to be a fascinating finale and may be one of those in the chasing pack, including the likes of Ernie Els, talented and fearless young Dane Thorbjorn Olesen and a bunch of Americans (Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Bubba Watson, Bill Haas and early pacesetter Brandt Snedeker) will come through on the rails and power past the winning post.

And it looks likely that those last out will have the tougher of the conditions with strong winds – gusts of 25 to 30mph are expected to develop through this afternoon with isolated gusts of 35mph possible after 3pm – which could make it a whole different ball game…