When asked recently how a player might best prepare for the British Open, Tom Lehman, the 1996 champion, replied: "Put on a turtleneck, long underwear, a cashmere sweater and a rain-jacket and practise hitting the ball three inches off the ground."

Challengers in the 36-hole Final Qualifying competitions yesterday would have done well to follow Lehman's advice as gales whipped along the four venues on the Lancashire coast. Indeed conditions became so severe at West Lancs that play was suspended for the day at 5.05 p.m. - just as Paul McGinley was completing a two-over-par round of 74.

"I can't believe how good the scoring has been, given the conditions," said McGinley. He was referring to as many as 10 scores of par or better at his venue, but most of these were done early in the day when the weather was a lot more kindly.

By late afternoon, officials were forced to act when balls were moving on the greens and high winds were accompanied by heavy rain. Des Smyth, who still had three holes remaining when play was stopped, will have to return with 32 other competitors to complete the round at 7.15 this morning.

Against that background, Philip Walton performed brilliantly when shooting a level-par 72 at Hillside in the worst of the weather. It contrasted sharply with the experience of another exponent of the broomhandle putter, Mark Roe, who complained that he simply couldn't control it when shooting an unsigned 86, which included five putts at the last.

Walton used it to splendid effect. "I didn't play particularly well but every time I got on or near the green, the ball went in," he said after what his playing partners described as "a miraculous round". The Dubliner added: "At the 13th, for instance, I had a six-foot downhill putt that would have gone straight off the green, the wind was blowing so strongly. But it went in."

Remarkably, Walton was actually three under par for the round after birdies at the 10th and 11th. It was a cushion he needed for the remainder of the homeward journey, where he ran up a six at the 421-yard 15th and a bogey four at the next.

Christy O'Connor Jnr, looking decidedly weather-beaten after a round of 82 at Hillside, withdrew shortly afterwards because of a recurrence of an elbow injury. "I had a very bad day, which was all the more disappointing in view of the fact that I was here practising since last Friday." Others decided to battle on, but with little hope of survival.

Irish challengers very much in contention at this stage, however, are Waterville's David Higgins and Warrenpoint assistant Robert Giles, who shot one-over-par 72s at Hesketh, and Graham Spring, who had a fine 73 at West Lancs. Significantly, Giles was in the second group off the tee at 7.25 a.m., but Higgins faced cruelly hostile winds for all of his homeward journey.

There was also a highly creditable 75 - threeover-par - from the 1997 Irish Amateur Close champion, Kenneth Kearney, at Southport and Ainsdale. "Putting was the hardest part," he said, having three-putted the last two holes for bogeys.

Conditions were reminiscent of 1961 at Birkdale, where the wind was so severe on the second day that several tents were lifted from the ground and scores soared into the 80s. That was when the eventual winner, Arnold Palmer, shot an amazing 73. But the weather eventually became so bad that the final 36 holes (it was a three-day event in those days) had to be postponed until the Saturday.

"The wind seemed to be across all the way around," said McGinley. Indicative of its strength was that a well-hit, two-iron tee-shot at the 162-yard 17th came up short of the target. And his only chance of reaching the green at the 427-yard 18th was with a two-iron second shot "along the ground".

From an overall perspective, the Irish picture is far from healthy. At this stage, it is difficult to see the country having a comparable representation to 1991 at this venue, when there were seven Irish challengers in the championship proper, led by Eamonn Darcy, who finished fifth behind Ian Baker-Finch.

The others finishers were: O'Connor Jnr (tied 32nd), Smyth (T44th), Darren Clarke (T64th) and Eoghan O'Connell (T108th). David Feherty and Philip Walton failed to make the cut.

Meanwhile, it has been an interesting experience so far for the 1987 US Masters champion, Larry Mize. He flew into Britain on Friday only to discover that he didn't have a bed for the night, due to a bookings mix-up. Hesketh secretary Martyn Senior came to his rescue by taking him into his Chorley home.

In the event, Mize shot a 71, despite a double-bogey at the 13th where he drove into a ditch. "I'm tired; I've hardly slept for two days," he said.

Iain Pyman would gladly have settled for such discomfort. Instead, the former British Amateur champion from Leeds was disqualified at Southport and Ainsdale where he signed for a 73 rather than a 75.

The problem occurred at the short eighth where he signed for a par rather than a doublebogey five which was actually witnessed by a Royal and Ancient official.