‘That was all in the mind’, said Steve, ‘What is wrong is a bit of everything, but mostly it’s the mind.’

On the 4th Webster had 100 yards in a missed the green, leaving himself a delicate little chip, which he double hit for a 6. He ‘duffed’ it on the 7th when a birdie would have put him back to level and finished gloriously with a 7 iron to 15ft at his last – to miss by one shot.

Tom Whitehouse and Jamie Elson both had lots of work to do, and would be putting on very good greens that were suffering a little because of all the rain that the course has taken over the past week, making them slightly soft.

Elson was out in a level par 36 only to have a 6 at the par four 11th and drop two more shots – he will not be playing this weekend, the day his father Pip makes his senior debut out in France.

For Tom Whitehouse, the 16th was a disaster (Tom’s 7th hole). The five times Warwickshire Amateur Champion found lots of trouble for a six which left him at +7 and with no chance of making it through.

‘I started alright’, said Tom, ‘Then I found a terrible lie in the bunker at 11 and the biggest stone in more sand on 14 – on 16 I just stuck it in the water.

‘On the front nine, my back nine, I just hit it as hard as I could and came back in one under … China next week.’

The good news was coming from Paul Broadhurst. Going out it 34 with three bridies (playing the back nine), Paul had a chance to be right up there when he had 3 putts of under five feet from the 3rd through to the fifth. He holed non of those and 3 putted from five feet on the 4th for a bogey.

‘I putted cXXX all day – especially the front nine. I am not happy with the putter and the course is not getting any easier.

‘This is a difficult wind, a completely different direction to normal. It takes some getting used to.’

What was a 70 could have been another 69 when after a brilliant approach to the 9th (Paul’s 18th) he had a 12ft putt left.

‘I just under borrowed it. It was a 7 iron in when its normally a driver and a 2 iron … I hit 10 out of 14 fairways – lest see if I can keep that up.’

There is one other player whose performance we will be featuring over the weekend, if he makes the cut. Gary Wolstenholme is playing and he managed two 72s which may well get him through.