He had further birdies at the 10th and 14th and when he walked down the 18th fairway they gave him a standing ovation. He doffed his cap, complete with the Golden Bear logo, and had he made a six-foot putt at the last he would have shot 65, equalling his lowest round in an Open.Jack’s back? “I got up at 5.45am, did my exercises and felt all right Three putts on the back nine spun out, really good putts. I can’t be too unhappy can I? When I putt well I can be a match for anyone. My problem the next couple of days will be managing myself, not my game.

Yesterday he hit a four iron to within eight feet of the first hole and tapped in the putt for a birdie two. The Golden Bear’s balmy army was on the march, armed with sun block, sunglasses and a variety of headgear that would put Royal Ascot in the shade.It was a worthwhile crusade. Palmer, of course, played in his last Open 12 months ago and Nicklaus has taken up the torch for the Golden Oldies.At the beginning of the year Nicklaus doubted whether he would play here because of indifferent form; on Wednesday there was an even greater doubt as he did what a lot of people in their mid-fifties do – he awoke complaining of a bad back. “Nobody was as surprised as me.”McGinley was born in 1966, the year Nicklaus won the first of his three Open titles. It was at Muirfield and Nicklaus won with an aggregate of two under. In those days he was called Ohio Fats and by casting a shadow over Arnold Palmer he was not the all-American pin-up boy.

“Something clicked on Sunday morning and I started to get my rhythm back,” McGinley said He shot 66 in the first round of qualifying. He also had four birdies on the front nine which he covered in 29 strokes.The portents were hardly good for McGinley when he was one of those blown away in the Scottish Open at Carnoustie and last Saturday night he made the long drive down to prepare for qualifying at St Annes Old Links. The highlight of his extraordinary round was a hole in one at the ninth where he hit a soft 7 iron that flew about eight feet to the right of the flag and then disappeared into the hole with a touch of Irish side spin. The 125th Open is possibly the hottest on record and that happens to be the perfect balm for Jack’s troublesome back.McGinley, a 29-year-old Dubliner, missed a four-foot putt at the 18th that would have given him a course record 64. TIM GLOVER

reports from Royal Lytham
Paul McGinley, who has never won on the European Tour and who has never even made the half-way cut in the Open Championship, shared the lead with the American Tom Lehman last night at eight under par, a stroke in front of a more familiar figure, the 56 year old Jack Nicklaus. But the London flight was two hours late so we missed the connection.”We finally got a second plane to Manchester and arrived at 4.30pm on Tuesday.”I must admit, when we were being held up in America, I thought about not coming. But it’s the Open and it’s a privilege to be exempt at this tournament.”The British Amateur champion Warren Bladon, from Leamington Spa, has a small “army” of supporters at Lytham.Three friends have turned up in T-shirts sporting the legend “On Tour with Warren Bladon” on the front, and “Rip it Wozza” on the back.They are still wondering if they can afford the fare to Augusta next April, when the T-shirts might not go down quite so well when Bladon steps out in the US Masters..