David Dixon followed in Tiger Woods' footsteps to guarantee the silver medal for the leading amateur at Royal Lytham.

The amateur medal has not been awarded since Justin Rose's heroics at Birkdale three years ago and the last man to win the prize at Lytham was Woods in 1996.

"To follow in his footsteps can't be a bad thing," admitted Dixon after a level par 71 left him at one under for the championship.

But that 71 hardly tells the tale of a remarkable round - or a stunning final drive.

As darkness gathered and the wind picked up, he saw a couple of shots disappear before taking out his frustration on a stunning drive at the 18th.

Spectators crossing the fairway near the green were forced to duck as Dixon's drive flew 390 yards to within 15 feet of the green.

As he waited for playing partners Paul Curry and Carl Paulson to clear the green, Dixon, at two under, asked what the cut figure was likely to be.

Two over, he was told.

"That leaves me with six putts from here," he joked, then proceeded to use nearly all of them.

A tight squeeze

He overhit his chip, left a recovery putt short and then missed his par putt, before holing out for bogey.

"I managed to squeeze in, so it was all OK," he said as he was mobbed by reporters at the 18th.

"For the drive, I was just thinking fairway, so where it went was a bonus.

"I nearly made a mash of it but I managed to keep it relatively under control."

An amateur is only eligible to win the silver medal if he plays in all four rounds.

"I was just trying to get in and beat the wind, without getting stupid numbers.

"I dropped three shots, but it was groovy," he said, underlining the laid-back side of his nature.

Playing with John Daly in Wednesday's practice round helped and Dixon knew just how to while away the hours during a long wait to start his round on Friday.

"I didn't do a lot, but a few friends have come up to watch me and we just hung around the players' lounge enjoying the freebies."

Come Sunday, whatever his score, Dixon will be handed the ultimate amateur's souvenir at Lytham's closing ceremony.