Out at the far end of the course, the tenth hole is somewhat removed from the excitement, noise and bustle of the opening and closing holes.

Which means the scoreboard overlooking the green plays an important role in keeping the players and spectators informed of the state of play around the course.

Operating the scoreboards has been a popular job for junior golf club members for years - indeed Rory McIlroy revealed that a group of his friends were on duty this week.

The scoreboard behind the tenth green is the responsibility of Colette Butler from Preston and Jonny Luke from the Alnmouth Village GC.

Using a small handheld computer they are constantly being updated by the scoring officials based near the eighteenth green.

Whilst the early starters drifted through they could afford to be a little relaxed and take advantage of the fact that they had the best view of the green.

From that position yesterday Jonny had watched Tiger fight for his par after he hit his approach into a tree, narrowly avoiding the Barrie Burn.

Later this afternoon the hand set will be buzzing, however, as the stats men throw figures at Jonny and Colette who will have to re-arrange the names and numbers at high speed to keep fully up to date.

In normal conditions it's a fun job, with decent perks.

But this year the the weather forecast is awful - suddenly being perched high above the course, with the wind blowing in their faces, and no roof to protect them, doesn't seem like such an appealing way to spend an afternoon.