There have been some suggestions that the course has been made more difficult this week, especially the bunkers which seem to get deeper every time The Open is played here.

If you see pictures of previous Opens, they were still nasty pot bunkers but some of them are unbelievably deep this week.

The bunker in front of the 11th, The Strath Bunker, must be seven or eight feet high. The sand at the bottom is now very flat which means that the junction between the lip and the sand is almost a 90 degree angle.

There are areas in that bunker and The Hell Bunker that you're never going to get out of no matter who you are or what you do.

Strategy

I'm sure it's a deliberate strategy by the R&A to penalise those who do go in the bunkers. They are a genuine worry - so often, bunkers are not much of a punishment - but these really hurt you.

Having said that, I know the R&A were out on Wednesday morning putting sand around the edges of the bunkers which will make it fractionally easier, but without doubt it's something they've thought about.

The great beauty of St Andrews, though, is that it does not suit any single style of golfer because its challenges change from day to day.

It depends on the conditions of the big greens, the wind direction, you have slopey lies.

However, St Andrews without a wind can be pretty vulnerable - the way the fairways are, the average drive is going to be about 290 yards, so you can get into the pins with fairly short irons.

Breeze