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To gain an insight into the proper way to go about things on Sunday, I sought out 1996 Open champion and former US Ryder Cup captain .

Here in a nutshell, is what he had to say:

"Whatever position you might be in, you think about what you might need to do, make a gameplan and try to execute it. For example, if you're leading, you might think about fairways and greens, take your pars and if you get a chance for a birdie, go for it. Just try to shoot a solid round. You don't want to beat yourself.

"Basically, you've got 18 holes of golf and something is going to happen at the end. Either you'll win or you'll lose.

"You can't do anything about the 18th hole on the first tee but it takes experience, mental toughness and discipline to forget about results and focus on execution.

"The discipline is the key. It's taking every shot as a challenge and approaching it with complete commitment and concentration.

"It's simply executing every shot the best you can. It's really a cliche but it's really true.

"It's not thinking about what you're going to shoot, not thinking about where you stand and not thinking about what the other guy is doing.

"You need to have a plan for each shot, commit to it, hit it and if it turns out, great. If it doesn't, well, you gave it your best. So, go find it and hit it again. Then add them all up at the end."

So, that all sounds pretty easy then.

"No, it's not easy. If you start playing really well you can start thinking about what happens if... Or if you're playing poorly you start getting uptight and thinking, 'I'm four over after five and I've got number six to play', or you start projecting forward and thinking, 'if I can par this hole then I've got the downwind par five to come' and you start getting ahead of yourself.

"You must try to approach every shot with a clean slate and give it your full attention. If you do that you can accept whatever happens. You can accept success or failure.

"The discipline comes naturally to some guys, while others have to learn it. It took me a long time to learn."

But isn't it even more difficult to do all that when the Open Championship is on the line?

"Well, that's exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. If you're thinking about the prize at the end on the first tee, then you're in trouble."

But do you watch leaderboards?

"Absolutely." (Conversely, Padraig Harrington said he didn't at all on Saturday)

And what about your mind wandering over those tricky four footers?

"It usually happens if you're not playing well. If you're playing well and in the thick of it, it never happens. You have to be so focused.

"If I'm something like 15 shots back with four holes to go on a Sunday I might be chatting to my caddie about, say, .

"Then I'll hit a putt and say to him, 'you know what, all I could think about was that ."

Thanking Tom for his insights, I thought it was worth getting a view from the other end of the spectrum.

is a 20-year-old English amateur from Leicester, vying with countryman for the silver medal for leading amateur at Birkdale.

"There's no secret technique to it, but you can't concentrate on golf the whole time," he said. "While you're walking from ball to ball you try to turn your mind off from golf. I'm a chatty guy and talk to my caddie a lot which helps to switch off.

"But when you're over the shot you must be 100% zoned in. The wind here this week almost helps because you've got so much more to concentrate on. It's almost easier to stay in the present because of the conditions. You haven't really got the energy to think about anything else."

Unwavering optimism seems to help, too. Sherreard is 12 over and mainly chasing Wood at eight over, but he said: "The great thing is I definitely haven't played my way out if it."

Another thing that seems to be key, particularly in tough conditions, is to remind yourself that you are not alone in struggling out there.

Who better to quiz on this subject than Frenchman , who famously threw away the Open at Carnoustie in 1999.

"What I learned most is that anything can happen. It can happen to me, but it can happen to everybody else, too. You just have to keep trying your best and fight it out," he told me.

England's added: "You've got to keep looking at the leaderboard, and know everyone else is struggling just a much as you are. If you make bogeys you just put them in the bank and carry on. There's 40mph-odd winds out there and 18 holes of golf left for the Claret Jug."

But sometimes, it seems, even the best-laid plans go up in flames.

"I tried my hardest on every shot and it added up to 82," said Justin Rose on Saturday.

The eventual Open champion, then, will need to be a mixture of , , and . The pros would call it being a golfer.