I went to the 152nd Open at Royal Troon to see some of my golfing heroes up close

Thousands of people have already been flocking down the Ayrshire coast to Troon to enjoy a busy week of golf for The Open Championship.

I was fortunate enough to be at Royal Troon on the final day the last time the course hosted The Open in 2016 when Henrik Stenson battled Phil Mickleson to be crowned the champion. It was an epic showdown with the Swede eventually finishing on a score of 20-under which was the lowest score to par in major history. Going to one of the practice days, it would need to have to take something special to beat that but the atmosphere was completely different and much more laid back.

Admittedly, I am absolutely rotten at playing golf but I love watching any major championship on television and when one comes to a course which is only 40 minutes away from Glasgow on the train it would be rude not to go.

Everything is well set up from Glasgow Central station when you arrive in Troon with spectators having the choice of walking to the course or jumping on the shuttle bus. When entering the course, a good few golfers were already out and about on the course so we decided to head to the first hole where we caught Sepp Straka and JT Poston.

I was determined to find Rory McIlroy who had teed off at 7.30 am with fellow countryman Darren Clarke who of course won the competition in 2011. We headed over to the seventeenth where we patiently waited for McIlroy to make his way to the green where he played a few shots around the hole before moving on to the eighteenth.

After taking his time to stop to sign stuff for fans, he drove his ball down the final hole and on his approach even gave me a smile and thumbs up. Although It would be terrific to see the 35-year-old once again win The Open having previously won it a decade ago at Royal Liverpool.

The Scottish weather was not being to kind to us on Tuesday morning and as the rain started to get heavier we took refuge in ‘The Open Arms’ with spectators having a great selection of food and drink to choose from with fans also mixing well together.

It was also great to see the likes of Padraig Harrington, Zach Johnson, Phil Mickleson and Henrik Stenson who have all previously won the Claret Jug.

One of the other golfers I was hopeful of seeing was John Rahm who hadn’t came out on the course, but the day was complete when we managed to see the big Spaniard taking a few practice shots.

It is once again set to be a special few days at Royal Troon and hopefully this is once again an event to remember. I was glad to experience the atmosphere before things moved towards what could be another dramatic final day.