Ginn Sur Mer Classic

As Daytona Beach is only 30 minutes away from Palm Coast, where this week's event was. I went for a drive along the beach, and to the Daytona Speedway. They had a number of activities you could do but I opted for a tour of the track, there were cars on the track practising for the Rolex 24 in January. The noise from the cars was deafening and the sizes of the stands were impressive. We drove through the famous tunnel and into the infield. They have a special spectator area in the middle of the track where you can see inside of the garages, a viewing area and a bar. I couldn't imagine it when it's at full capacity.

On Tuesday I went to the golf course for 7am to play my usual early practice round, but it was still dark when I got to the course and it was freezing cold as once again there was a cold front that had come through the city we were in. I played with Troy Matteson and he gave me lots of information on travelling in an RV. After my round I practised my putting, I have been practising with my belly putter in practice and using my normal length Scotty Cameron during play. After some lunch I went back to my hotel to defrost.

The course we played was the Conservatory Course at the Ginn Resort. It is a Tom Watson design and one of the most talked about features were the bunkers, they were quite high faced and when you turned and looked back down the fairway from the green you couldn't see them. The course had a lot of waste bunkers throughout the course and not much rough. The course was firm and with the wind it played fast. The greens were quite big but they are divided into sections and you needed to be on the correct level, this was difficult as I was hitting in long irons and rescues with strong winds onto firm greens.

Wednesday was a quiet day as the weather was cool it was nice to be away from the course and get some rest, Florida is a three hour time difference from Arizona and I was still catching up.

On Thursday I was the last of the morning groups to tee off and played with Paul Claxton and Travis Perkins. I played nicely and after being two over through three holes I was even more pleased with my round of 2 under par. The weather was cold first thing but warmed a little as the day went on.

On Friday we were the last group out and as the late starters had to finish their first round on Friday morning I knew there was a chance we might not finish. We waited on every shot all day, and managed to get our drives away on the eighteenth but there was no way we could finish our rounds. I had a good day and was level par for my efforts as it had been hard work in the wind. I ate on the way back to the hotel and was surprised to see the man behind the counter with his face painted until I remembered it was Halloween.

I was up early on Saturday morning and finished off my second round at 7.45am, I was disappointed as I hit my second shot into the greenside bunker on the par 5, but my 3rd shot ran away down the slope and I three putted for a bogey six to go back to one under par for the tournament, I could have done that in the dark and at least I wouldn't have had to watch it!

The draw was made and I went back out at 9.10am with Martin Laird and Matt Jones. At last I had the low round I have been waiting for, I shot five under and moved up the leaderboard on a day that level par was a good score. I hit the ball well and made some crucial putts to keep my momentum going. As soon as I had signed my scorecard I was whisked off to do a TV interview and then to the media centre for a press conference and more interviews. I decided to go back to the hotel for something to eat, as it had been a long day. I finished the day tied for second one shot behind the leader Michael Letzig.

As there was bad weather forecast and the clocks had gone back they brought the tee times forward, so I was in the last group with Letzig and John Huston at 9am, but it wasn't early enough to avoid the lightening. I hit seven out of nine greens on the front nine but I had three, three putts, on some of the holes I would have had a better third shot if I had missed the green. I stuck in all day and had a few opportunities but when I got a shot back I gave it back again. Nothing really went my way and for every bounce that did on Saturday it didn't on Sunday. We had a two hour delay after they evacuated the course, its well organised, each hole has its own assigned van. I hung around outside the clubhouse and then in the cart barn as I figured the players and family dining would be manic. In the end I finished tied 18th, as the scoreboard was so jammed as the winners score was seven under. We were lucky to get the round finished as we had less than ten minutes of daylight left when we completed our round.

Dottie Pepper was out on the course as the walking commentator and was good fun on the way around. It was nice to be in contention; I just wish the result had been a little better. There were a few English supporters in the crowd following me, which was nice, but I have a feeling they were in Florida trying to get away from the rain!

I had arranged for a car to collect me after my round and drive me to Orlando, with all of the rain delays he had to sit in the car park for a couple of hours and I changed my mind and had him drive me to Lakeland to my friends Randy and Foo's house, the decision was made worthwhile when I got there and Randy had his home cooked chilli and corn bread waiting for me. After a long, wet, stressful day it was just what I needed. I will drive to Orlando tomorrow and register for next week's event at Disney, but right now I am going to bed, as I am exhausted. I'd like to thank those of you who sent me good luck messages this week or walked round in the rain, I'm getting closer but only have one event left so its now or never.