The Open 2010: Duke of York's speech tries patience of St Andrews

Prince Andrew gave the keynote speech at the Association of Golf Writers dinner on Tuesday evening in the R&A marquee. But unfortunately for the Queen's second son his oratory went down like a quintuple bogey at the Road Hole on a rain-soaked afternoon on the Old Course. The prince began by saying: "I don't know why I'm here." Then he subsequently offered the following pearl of wisdom: "Golf is a game that will remain being played on a course," much to the bemusement of the assembled journalists. And, as the speech dragged on and on he also complained about how long it takes to play a round of golf. Twenty-three minutes and 17 seconds later those hacks still awake finally saw him wander off. For the record Lee Westwood won a third Golf Writers' trophy to equal the number Seve Ballesteros has also collected. Golf nut Evans misses out Self-confessed golf nut Chris Evans wandered into Diary Towers for a chat. Looking suitably pink from his holiday in Portugal the radio presenter told of braving the elemental weather: "I played this morning at Duke's [in St Andrews]. In this rain you have to be a golf nut. We played eight holes and it was all square and John Inverdale [the BBC presenter] said, 'No there has to be some kind of resolution here.' So we played three more holes. The rain was horizontal, it was so horizontal that I didn't know where it was going to land. It just kept going so it may be in Birmingham now." But Evans did have one quibble: he will not be able to witnesss a single shot struck in anger at the Open. "I'm here to work for [BBC Radio] 5 live. I'm hosting the Open preview which I did last year at Turnberry. I'm here Wednesday night and I was supposed to stay for the rest of the tournament to do on-course stuff. But my wife's still on holiday in Portugal so I have to go back," he laughed. "So I'm not actually going to see a single stroke." García eyes Spain treble Rafael Nadal won Wimbledon. Spain's football team have just claimed a first ever World Cup. Can Sergio García make it a hat-trick for his country by winning the Open and collecting an inaugural major championship? "I hope so. That's what we're here for. I love this tournament," he said. "I'm not going to lie to you, I'm not going through my best time but I wouldn't miss this for the world. I'm here to do well – I know the people are always behind me here. It's very special. The whole experience is great – the championship, the course and the crowd. They have carried me nicely over my career and hopefully can give them something to cheer." Having arrived wearing a replica Spain football shirt Garcia also hinted that his on-course wardrobe might reflect his allegiances. "We'll see. We're working on it. Hopefully a nice surprise. Be patient," he added.