That was a struggle out there. I haven't played in conditions as bad as that for a long time. The rain was relentless. I got so wet that I had to empty the water out of the pockets of my waterproofs. In Florida it can get very, very windy but it is warm there and the ball goes further. Today a 3 iron was going 165 yards. It was going nowhere in other words because of the combination of the wind, rain and cold.

As a round, as a score, it could have been a lot worse. I played the last nine holes in level par and let a couple of opportunities slip away. I drove into the left rough on the seventeenth and had to use a lob wedge back to the fairway and I missed a shortish one, about eight feet I would guess, on the eighteenth.

I said yesterday that the golf this week might not look pretty and I described myself as being "Seve-esque" in 1998. That was a good way to describe my play today. I really didn't hit that many great golf shots to be honest, but it was a good day to get out of it with a half decent score. It was interesting that I felt as cool as a cucumber on the 1st tee. It was only after I got my tee shot away - a nice 2 iron - and got a nice ovation from spectators around the tee that I started to feel nervous. Suddenly the enormity of it all kicked in.

I had an early start to be ready for my 7.36am tee time. I woke up just before 5am and heard the birds chirping and thought "oh good. It's not raining." Then I pulled the curtains and looked out of the window and thought "oh no!" It was dark, I could see that the wind was blowing and I could see that it was raining hard.

I got up a few minutes after that and had my usual decent breakfast of muesli, scrambled eggs and toast (and a couple of extra slices) to make sure I had enough energy. I got to the course, had a good warm up with Kam, my fitness trainer, in the fitness bus and went to the range with Nick [Bradley] and hit some balls. I didn't even look where I was aiming. I was just trying to loosen up.

I was really pleased with my putting today. That has not been my strong suit lately but it was today. I holed out really well and that saved the round to be honest. I like watching Tom Watson's putting stroke. It's sort of a firm rap and I am trying to get some of that firmness and that rapping motion into my putting stroke.

It was great to play with Tom. He gets on with it. I loved watching the way he flighted the ball in the wind. I love his rhythm. We were put on the clock and given a warning on the 13th and after that Tom said something interesting. He said both Aaron [Baddeley] and I play better when we play faster. At one point during the round I asked Tom how the conditions compared with the worst weather he had played an Open in? He said the first round of the 1980 Open at Muirfield was worse. I asked him what he shot. He said 68. I said 'Ok, fair enough'. His words were "Trevino and I, we lapped the field."

Now I am going to have some hot soup, a bite to eat, and then do some short game practice. I will talk to Nick about keeping my swing as neutral as possible. There is no point in hitting balls into a 50mph wind and destroying yourself.

Then I shall go home, put my feet up, and have a cup of tea and watch the others suffer.