Losing a play-off for The French Open was in no way the end of the world for me.  I brought only positives away from Paris with me after a very good week there.

I was four shots back at the start of the day so being tied for the lead after 72 holes was a pretty good effort.  Martin Kaymer made the carry on the last at the first extra hole by a foot and I missed it by a foot.  On such margins are titles decided so I didn't have anything to beat myself up over on the way back.

I was top 10 in two driving categories and hit greens in regulation on no fewer than 84 per cent of occasions so my game is in pretty good shape.

I'm probably looking forward to Turnberry as much as I have any recent major championship.  It's a terrific course and should prove to be a great Open.   I visited there last Monday and was very happy with what I found.   The course is in great shape and the greens are as close to perfection as I've known although they'd probably like them a bit quicker.

The fairways are not the narrowest I've seen at an Open and there's probably a good reason for that.  If you miss them then the chances are that you'll finish in the hay... and there's plenty of it about. 

 
Now it's another part of Scotland, Loch Lomond for the Barclays Scottish Open which is always a favourite week of the year for me and although it's about as far removed from a links as you can get, the course is in great shape and I'm looking forward to another good week.   Play well here and it's more than likely you'll take your form with you so it doesn't really matter that it isn't links preparation.

I had a good time at a Take That concert at Old Trafford with my wife Laurae and a few friends, but there hasn't been much time for socialising lately although I'm looking forward to going to Freddie Flintoff's  Foundation fund raiser.

I'm also excited about the opening of my academies immediately after The Open.  All the places have gone which means that almost 500 youngsters will be taking part and I'll be visiting every venue to help out here and there.  Should be  great fun and something we can build on.

Now I'm ready for the first round of the Barclays, Turnberry and what I hope will be a wonderful 11 days in my sporting life.