Tom Watson drew a big following during Saturday's play at Turnberry
They will not admit it, but the R & A must be slightly disappointed with the attendance figures at Turnberry.
This is among the biggest sporting events in the world, yet the crowds on Thursday and Friday were well short of the 30,000 mark.
In each stand on each tee or green, there are empty seats - lots of them.
The feud involving Colin Montgomerie and Sandy Lyle ended with a whimper as ! next year's Ryder Cup captain bogeyed the 18th on Friday - missing the cut - to polite applause from a smattering of hardy souls in rain jackets.
Is this due to a lack of excitement, the recession, the weather, or the lack of a half-decent route down the Ayrshire coast?
It surely cannot be the excitement factor given the thrills Tom Watson, Mark Calcavecchia, Steve Marino and Miguel Angel Jiminez have treated us to.
And those that have turned up for the weekend have created a good atmosphere despite the field being shorn of Scots and world number one Tiger Woods.
At £55, a day ticket may be a bit on the pricey side in the current climate.
The attendance of 23,500 for the first round compares badly to the opener at Royal Birkdale 12 months ago, where more than 36,000 watched golden oldie Greg Norman burn up the course.
!  | Next year at St Andrews, which is the 150th anniversary, we'll have 200,000 people
David Hill
R&A director of championships |
But there is an insistence that attendance comparisons be drawn with the last time the tournament was held here rather than at more accessible venues.
The director of championships with the R & A, David Hill, had predicted crowds would top 120,000 over the week and that, if they did, it would be a success! .
So far, so good on that score. But the total will be well below that of other Open venues.
And will that affect Turnberry's hopes of holding the jewel in golf's crown in the future?
"It's fantastic to be here at Turnberry," Hill told BBC Scotland on Saturday. "It's just such a wonderful, iconic venue.
"It's not the easiest place to get to and it's hard for fans when the really heavy storms come if you haven't got the wet weather gear.
"But we've got queues for the pay gates that are 100m long today and there are a lot of senior citizens coming along.
"Maybe they are reliving their youth and cheering on Tom Watson.
"We'll have our lowest attendance of any Open venue and that simply reflects the location, lack of accommodation in the area and, to some extent, the road system.
 England's Lee Westwood is a big fan of the Ailsa Course |
"But next year at St Andrews, which is the 150th anniversary, we'll have 200,000 people and there will be a huge number of visitors from overseas."
Lee Westwood blamed the recession for the turnout.
"I think the current economic climate does Turnberry no favours to be honest," said the Englishman, who is placed nicely on the leaderboard.
"I think it's a fantastic links golf course and it would be a shame if it wasn't on the Open rota. It's great to have it back here."
Turnberry is in a beautiful part of the world, but it is remote and not the most accessible of places, despite being located on the main Glasgow to Stranraer road.
Furthermore, on Friday afternoon, the conditions turned! extremely nasty, leading to many heading for the exits despite there being six hours of play left.
Given the ticket price, it would normally take more than bad weather to force people home.
A man who had a positive second round - which was incidentally played out in front of 28,000 people - had a positive spin to the crowd debate.
American Steve Marino - co-leader after two rounds - reckons nobody would bother coming out to watch in his homeland if the weather turned the way it did here.
"There's actually more people here than back home I think," he said.
"I know it's the Open, but I don't think you'd see this many people out here if the weather was like this in America, that's for sure."
Saturday has seen an improvement in the weather and the crowds and the swashbuckling Watson's performance has finally started queues forming behind the stands.
Those who have braved the elements - and the A77 - have been thoroughly entertai! ned.
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