Highlights: The Open second round

By Matt Slater BBC Sport at Hoylake

For many years now, the world's oldest golf major has attempted to walk a wobbly tightrope.

Warren Bladon in action at Hoylake this week

As golf's international governing body for the rest of the world outside Mexico and the US, the Open Championship's organiser, the Royal and Ancient, has attempted to make the tournament the closest thing golf has to a World Open.

And that is certainly the way it is viewed by most non-American golfers.

But it is also our Open - or the British Open as it is known across the pond. So there is an FA Cup element to it in that it is also, on paper at least, possible to earn a place in the event through some life-affirming combination of latent talent, mind over matter or romantic endeavour.

But it has become increasingly difficult to reconcile these two aspects of the same tournament. As the R&A's chief executive Peter Dawson was forced to admit on Wednesday, the Open is as big as it can be because there are only so many hours in the day.

Something has had to give and to many observers it is the feel-good sports movie side of things that has suffered.

The real shift towards assembling the best possible field from around the world, as opposed to most of the best players from around the world and a few dozen teaching pros from the shires having the week of their lives, came in 2003.

Nick Ludwell had rounds of 75 and 76, finishing tied with Seve Ballesteros

It was then that the R&A introduced five 36-hole qualifying events dotted around the globe to make it easier for leading international players to earn an Open berth.

Prior to the introduction of International Final Qualifying, players that had not already earned a place by dint of some other achievement - making them "exempt" from qualifying - had to travel to Britain the weekend before the Open and play in qualifying shoot-outs near the main tournament's host course.

These Local Final Qualifying events were truly the stuff from which dreams are made.

But whereas there were once 12 Open spots up for grabs at each LFQ competition, there are now only 12 in total, three from each of the four courses. Those 36 spots for the international stars had to come from somewhere.

Pub footballers

The dozen dreamers that made it through the local route to Hoylake this year included six men who had fought their way through the stage before LFQ, one of the 16 Regional Qualifying events.

These tournaments, held the length and breadth of the kingdom and similar to the FA Cup preliminary rounds that pub footballers aspire to just so they can say they took part in the same competition as Chelsea, require "only" a handicap of scratch and the �110 entry fee.

It was on these six players - Jon Bevan, Warren Bladon, Gary Day, Adam Frayne, Nick Ludwell and Jim Payne - that much of the responsibility for romance was placed this week.

Bladon owes his place at the Open to his girlfriend

Bladon's story perhaps best fits the human-interest template. Clearly a character, the 40-year-old from Leamington Spa was only here because his girlfriend put the entry fee on her credit card. He was skint.

A talented junior, aged 16 his handicap was two better than scratch. It was four worse at 17 as he spent a year trying to knock the cover off the ball. He then won the British Amateur in 1996 which earned him spots in the 1997 Open and Masters.

Whilst at Augusta he played a practice round with Jack Nicklaus. An experience he was enjoying until he got tired and called it a day at the 9th. Nicklaus was stunned.

Now a part-time plumber and picture-framer, Bladon has missed the cut in his six previous professional events. But even last place here brings �2,000, so his girlfriend's investment is looking pretty canny, particularly as he charges only �6.50 an hour for his plumbing services.

Another tabloid-friendly story belongs to Bevan, the man who won the Conwy LFQ that Bladon came through. A teaching pro from Weymouth, the 39-year-old struggled with Royal Liverpool's links, carding rounds of 82 and 81 to finish 155th (one ahead of Kenneth Ferrie, who retired hurt).

There is a 'living the dream' element R&A man Martin Kippax

But Bevan remains a hero to one member of his travelling support, nine-year-old Sarena Bosch. Sporting an autograph-covered "Bevan is the best" T-shirt, Bosch cheered her golf teacher every step of the way.

His Claret Jug dreams might be over for this year but Bevan can clearly coach. He took Bosch to second place in her age group at the recent British Junior Open within two months of taking up the game. A feat made all the more impressive by the fact she suffers from eczema that makes her hands bleed after nine holes.

But all the RQ survivors have tales to tell. Day was playing in his first Open after three visits as a caddie, Payne was the low amateur at the 1991 Open and looked set to make a splash as a pro until a serious back injury stopped his progress, and so on and so on.

There is still room for Tin Cup-style sentiment at the Open, you just have to look for it a little harder amidst all the millionaires.

As senior R&A man Martin Kippax said before the start of the tournament: "There is a 'living the dream' element, absolutely.

"It's a tough game to qualify for the Open, and it's everybody's dream, but I still think romance is part of the championship."