Sandy Lyle hoping to make the cut, while tipping Ernie Els to lift Claret Jug

Still exempt for the world’s oldest major on the back of his win at Sandwich in 1985, the 54-year-old is looking forward to being back at the Lancashire links this week and he is not intending to be there just to make up the numbers. Having watched Tom Watson – a man eight years older than the Scot – roll back the years at Turnberry in 2009, Lyle is hoping he can do likewise.

“I still enjoy The Open,” admitted one of the most affable sportsmen on the planet. “I made my Open debut at Lytham in 1974 at the age of 16. It was what I’d played for and strived for. I’d played a lot of amateur golf by that stage of my career and the game was in good shape.

“I went to the qualifier, then made the second-round cut (before missing out on the final round in the days when there were two cuts) and every day was a bonus out there, smelling and breathing the atmosphere, being among the good players. It felt what it would be like when I was older – it was a great experience.

“I had played the Lytham Trophy before then and I was there the time when Tony Jacklin won. I almost caught his ball when he lobbed it at the 18th. I just missed it. Your eyes are wide open, seeing Jack Nicklaus and Peter Thomson hitting balls on the range.

“I went to see Nicklaus late in the evening when I was supposed to be going home and thought ‘who is this guy out on the range with a bunch of people round him?’ It was Jack hitting a driver and it looked like he was hitting it into the next county. (Caddie) Jimmy Dickinson was walking around picking balls up and you thought, ‘this guy’s pretty good’.”

Lyle, who wasn’t exempt for last week’s US Senior Open and probably wouldn’t have played in that if he was due to the fact he’s never been a fan of the way the USGA sets up its courses, has missed the cut in the last three Opens. He suffered the same fate in the Scottish Open after a “miserable finish” to his second round at Castle Stuart. But, having left the Highlands feeling encouraged by his best driving display for a while, he is looking forward to this week.

“Expectations? Probably trying to make the cut more than anything else,” he admitted. “But then Tom Watson comes along and inspires us and I think ‘if that old bugger can do it, so can the rest of us’. And I’m a bit younger than he is. This week is a tough one, but I’m driving the ball well, which is something I haven’t done very much lately. I picked up a new driver earlier this year which I feel comfortable with. By luck, I went to Callaway when my other driver was getting a new shaft. I picked up this other one and liked it.”

First-time winners may have become the recent trend in majors, but Lyle picked out a player with a proven record in these events as his man to watch this week. “I think (three-time major winner) Ernie Els could be a dark horse,” he mused. “He’s been playing hell of good golf this year and his momentum is good. He seems to be getting his putting going and he’s not afraid of the big occasion, so I’ll stick my neck out and say Ernie.

“But you can never leave Tiger (Woods) out. He’s had three wins this year. He seems to be driving the ball in the fairway quite a lot and that’s a key thing this week because of narrow fairways and the rough being up.”

As for a possible first-time winner – the last nine majors have been claimed by players making the big breakthrough – he reckons Lee Westwood is the man who might extend that sequence. “There’s a lot of good players that are hungry and Lee is one of them,” he added. “He didn’t play last week (at Castle Stuart) which is a surprise, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s played Lytham a few times already.”