"I lost a couple of balls on Monday that weren't far off the fairway."

Tom English tells us about Rory McIlroy's big problem these days: the throttle on his new gun metal grey Ferrari F430. And there's Rory's shock at being the third favorite at 25-1 behind Tiger and Sergio. "Bonkers" he calls it.

But he also offers this Turnberry scouting report:

"I saw the golf course in two completely different winds, which is a really good thing. Some holes were playing a lot longer the second day and some were playing a lot shorter. It was really interesting to see how the course can change like that."

A lot of his time was spent gawping at the rough. Some if it is nightmarish, he says. It's like instant death in places. He left there on both days with a very clear thought in his head: be accurate off the tee or prepare for an early exit.

"You have to really, really drive the ball well. The rough being the way it is, the people who drive it well are going to have a chance and the people who don't hit many fairways are going to struggle. With the spring that we've had, we've had quite a lot of rain, but it's also been quite warm so the very bottom of the rough is very lush and very thick and long and it only becomes more wispy the higher up it gets. It can be very difficult to find your ball. I lost a couple of balls on Monday that weren't far off the fairway. There are certain holes where the rough is a lot worse on one side than the other. The ninth for example. You can miss it left all day at the ninth but if you go five yards right of the fairway you'll be doing well to find your ball."