Open Diary

Bring on the Tatton Flower Show

Attendance figures for the past five Open championships seen exclusively by The Observer show that the abysmal weather and absence of Tiger Woods have done nothing to dampen - if you excuse the pun - interest in the tournament. An average of 192,814 fans turned up for the championships between 2003 and 2007, but the R&A is on course to surpass its 200,000 target for this year.

The cold has, however, affected the spectators' spending patterns. While a wish to be under cover has boosted sales from the merchandise tent and the wish to be warm means more than 100,000 teas and coffees will have been purchased by this evening, beer sales are down on 10 years ago.

Most affected has been EC Soft Ice, who run the ice-cream vans around the course and who lost well over £10,000 in one day because of the conditions on Thursday. Traian Ruxanda, one of eight vendors, revealed he sold only 200 ice creams on the first day, having expected to sell 1,000 by the 14th fairway. 'The wind and rain has definitely cost us lots,' he said, 'but you can't battle the weather.' Next week he'll be at Tatton Flower Show in Knutsford, where the forecast is for sunshine.

Tireless Rab in the swing

It is true that the best shot-maker in the world has not been at Birkdale, but Woods is not the player in question. The 14-times major champion may be machine-like in his consistency, but he has nothing on Rab the robot, the R&A's most valued piece of technology at St Andrews who, like most Scottish golfers, has been given the week off from his job of researching equipment and player performance.

According to director of research and testing Dr Steve Otto, 'Rab doesn't have a human swing, but he can perfectly replicate the way the club of any player makes contact with the ball. He can play with any club, follow any path and swing at a variety of speeds. What's more, he doesn't get tired.'

Otto and his team have been studying four holes at Birkdale and came to the same conclusion as Geoff Ogilvy (pictured) about the disadvantage of playing on Thursday morning. The Australian's language was bluer than the Irish Sea as he watched the second shot at the 15th of his best friend, Adam Scott, skip up to the back of the green when earlier in the day his own driver and three-wood had left the ball 90 yards short. Otto revealed that into the wind at the 15th players are hitting drivers only 248 yards on average, but with the wind behind them on 17 they are belting it 317 yards.

Backing black

Bookmakers Paddy Power say it is 'highly unlikely' they will ever again offer a market on what trousers self-styled fashion guru Ian Poulter will wear after suffering heavy losses. A huge number of bets for black reduced that color's odds from 8-1 to 1-3 before betting was suspended on Monday lunchtime, and indeed the usually colorful Englishman teed off in black trousers on Thursday.

Perhaps Paddy Power were getting their comeuppance for insults directed at Poulter on a blog posted on their website in January. Poulter was accused by the writer of being 'distinctly average', a 'shameless self-publicist' and 'obscenely irritating... with a mountain of mouthy self-belief and a molehill of actual talent.'

Reality bites for AK

Poulter recently launched his own design label, but American Anthony Kim has no plans to follow him into fashion. Kim has this week been showing off his bling silver belt, which bears his initials. When it was put to him that perhaps he could form a partnership called AK with that marketing man's dream Anna Kournikova, the normally self-confident 23-year-old suddenly went a little shy: 'I think she probably has no idea who I am, unfortunately.'

Top dollar at British major

Last year's Open winner received not only the Claret Jug but also a check for £750,000, a £30,000 increase on the first prize in 2006. The R&A decided to freeze the prize fund for this year, prompting rumors that they had succumbed to the credit crunch. However, chief executive Peter Dawson told The Observer that their aim is merely to 'keep the prize fund competitive. With the way the dollar is, our money is miles ahead of the other majors.'

The Open is historically the least lucrative of the majors, but the pound's dominance in the exchange rate now makes it the most valuable. The winner will take home $1,499,025, compared to $1.35m at the Masters and US Open and $1.26m at the USPGA. Quite frankly, it's a wonder our European stars bother crossing the Atlantic for such a pittance.

Going global

The International Golf Committee announced plans to apply to be in the Olympics in 2016, seeing it as 'the biggest grow-the-game globally opportunity'. But it seems the R&A are well advanced with that process looking at the scoreboard for last week's biannual Junior Open at Hesketh Golf Club. The under-16 tournament was won by the talented 13-year-old Thai girl, Moriya Jutanugarn (pictured), the first female winner, while players from Israel, Venezuela, Peru, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Cayman Islands, Namibia, Swaziland and Lebanon also took part. To develop the game worldwide, the R&A spend £4m-£5m each year. It seems well worth it, as it was the first time for six years that the tournament wasn't won by an American boy.