Graphic: where the Open was won and lost

In some quarters, this was an Open Championship written off before it had started because of the absence of Tiger Woods, an observation that elicited a memorable response from Peter Alliss, the television commentator. “That's total rubbish,” he said - or words to that effect.

And so it proved. But who could have guessed that it was going to take a 53-year-old part-timer truly to bring a championship fraught with problems - primarily of the meteorological variety - to life?

This was golf of the attritional variety, four days of it. Those wanting to see huge numbers of birdies and eagles at Royal Birkdale would have gone away disappointed, but they were not in the majority. In all, there were 12 eagles and 823 birdies, which compares with 5,015 pars, 2,310 bogeys and 391 double-bogeys or worse.

Expert View

If the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, the Open was won on the practice ground at Largs

John Hopkins

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Background

• Harrington joins the list of Open greats

• Two strokes of genius, one happy man

• Champion shows mettle with defining shots

• Losing proves a habit for Norman

Background

• Harrington's Open battle won in Largs

• Poulter more than mouth and trousers

• No losers at windswept Birkdale

• Test of skills for which few were equipped

Background

• Westwood diverts blame for missed opportunity

• Wood emerges among the elite

Related Links

• Two strokes of genius, one happy man

• No losers at windswept Birkdale

• Eason at large: Royal Birkdale - heaven or hell?

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• Where the Open was won and lost

The spectators, 160,000 of whom went through the gates over four days, were out there among the players and appreciative and sympathetic in equal measure of what was unfolding around them. They, too, were either wet through or blown off their feet in gusts that, on Saturday, reached 45mph. As with the players, the fans had nowhere to hide.

But what we were given was an exhibition of a style of golf for which few are equipped. To witness men such as Greg Norman, Tom Watson and Padraig Harrington plot their way around this wonderful links course in impossible conditions was more than impressive. It was miraculous.

Some players moaned, others got on with it. Jerry Kelly, the American who had an 83 in the first round, blamed the R&A for having tees too far back from the fairways on some of the holes. Others, Norman among them, revelled in the fearsome challenge that had been thrown at them. On the first morning, rain and heavy winds, in a band no more than ten miles wide, lay across Birkdale. The gods were having a little sport of their own.

The 6th, 10th, 11th and 16th holes proved particularly brutal into the wind, so it was not surprising that, by yesterday, all those tees had been moved forward.

It was also telling that in the third round on Saturday, one of the BBC's on-course commentators was incredulous that Norman was about to use a five-iron for a shot of no more than 120 yards, over a bunker. He was even more incredulous when he ran it to within six feet of the hole. It was an exhibition of golf's forgotten arts.

Before the start, much interest had been shown in the 17th green. It has been remodelled and now has all number of twists, turns and undulations. As it was, the hole proved more of a pussy-cat than any of the others. It was played downwind throughout, the pin positions remained relatively friendly and it threw up more birdies and eagles than any other hole. There were ten eagles there - including Harrington's yesterday - and 191 birdies.

Spare a thought, too, for the caddies. Mike Kerr, who works with Nick Dougherty, summed up. “Yardage charts go out of the window. You've got the numbers, but they're practically no use, so there's a hell of a lot of guesswork,” he said. “It's hard work and mentally tiring. But it's a totally different challenge and once you accept that, it's quite good fun.”

So, did people get value for money? At £55 to get in (free for under-16s, if accompanied), the Open compares favourably with many other leading sports (Barclays Premier League football, Formula One, Test cricket and rugby union internationals spring to mind) and even though Woods was missing, you could not hear a complaint from the thousands who poured through the gates.

And when the final round reached its mid-point yesterday, a real-life sporting drama had begun to unfold. Who was going to win? No one knew. And that was what made this Open Championship so captivating.