Sandy Lyle is apparently a creature of habit. He quit midway through the second round the last time the Open Championship was played at Royal Birkdale. This time, he only made it halfway through the first round before walking off the course.

“I’d lost all my momentum, my fingers were numb and I couldn’t feel the club. I walked in for the sake of my playing partners as much as anything.”

This may be the final nail in the coffin of Lyle's chances to captain a European Ryder Cup team. No, the R&A doesn't run the Ryder Cup or select European captains. But having the R&A mad at you - as they are at Lyle today - is something that might sink Lyle's chances nevertheless.

Rich Beem, too, walked off midway through today's round. Most upset about it? Third alternate Mark Brown, who would have loved the chance to play in miserable conditions:

“I’m not sure whether they were injured or what, but if they weren’t it’s very disappointing from my perspective,” he said. “I would have been out there in a flash.”