Goal for the week, play 6 days in a row with no back trouble. Result…… 6 days golf no back trouble, job done then.

I came to St Andrews, the home of golf, with no expectations, adamant my golf would not affect my mood, accepting of anything the game threw at me, just grateful to be back on the course once again, doing what I know best.

Boy did it throw some stuff at me. Martin, my caddy this week has seen a lot over the years, when I first came on tour he caddied for the great Severiano Ballesteros, 2 years he was by Seve’s side, then Jose Maria, Bjorn, Jimenez, Joost Luiten and many more in between.

Our build up was calm, we paced ourselves nicely with 18 holes sandwiched by a couple of 9’s and then the time came, 9.11 on Thursday, the first tee at St Andrews. My partner was Matthew Goode, English actor of some repute, replacing my old playing partner, Hugh Grant, an English actor.

Ryan Fox son of an All Black was the other pro, Shane Warne his partner. You can’t help but love Warney, he’s a man’s man let’s say, gambles for a living, but gets someone else to pay for it, now that’s a man’s job if ever there was one.

So I meet Matty on the putting green and head to the most famous first tee in the world, it’s a privilege to be there as always, but I haven’t played for two months, whilst my practice rounds have been ok I am not filled with confidence, frankly I find I’m just nervous, 22 years on tour and I’m nervous, but I’m not surprised by this so I just acknowledge it.

In 2013 it was Saturday when I teed it up at the old course, and for some unknown reason I was as nervous as hell, like shaking on the greens nervous, I shot 63 that day, my best ever effort on the links of St Andrews, so a few first tee nerves is no bad thing I remind myself.

2 months is not an eternity, but when I press my tee into the ground it feels like it might as well be, I choose driver as the wind is into and I realise I don’t really have anything to fall back on. Whilst the fairway is 80 yards wide, and I tell myself to make a free committed swing, I know I don’t, my swing was short, it was quick and out of time, it’s quite clear that I once again have a score card in my hand again.

People make livings out of trying to solve this conundrum, why is it that a score card changes everything? even when you have spent half your life with a score card in your back pocket it still seems to make a difference, but I found the fairway and we were off and running. The wind was into off the left on our outward 9 and it was pumping too, I scrambled around a bit and found myself two over par on the 9th tee.

Then a swing thought jumped into my head, chest through with a little more authority, boom, a rip straight at the green, birdie, same off ten then a beautiful 5 iron into the teeth of the wind, 140 yards would you believe, 5 iron, ten feet, missed putt but a solid par.

3 iron straight at the flag on 11, pin tucked behind the famous bunker, if honest I pushed it a few yards but it headed straight at the pin, landed on top of the bunker 1 yard from being a tap in, instead it trickled backwards into the trap, it’s a famous one, it will have a dastardly name I’m sure, but its deep and unforgiving. Somehow I extricate myself to 6 feet, make a three and move on.

Nice shots off 12 and 13 led to good birdie chances not taken, 14 is a par five and I commit pretty well off the tee, hit a beautifully struck pitch and I knock in a ten footer for birdie. Off the 15th I hit a poor tee shot but it goes left which is ok at St Andrews, and then I hit a beauty of a second and knock in the 12 footer for birdie. Same deal on 16, shocking tee shot, uncommitted and smothered left, a shot devoid of confidence, but after a kindly bounce it ends up just where I was aiming somehow. 5 iron, wind hard from the right for my second shot, a beautifully committed confident swing sends the ball soaring towards the flag, 8 feet away, I nail the putt. Three birdies in a row. Momentum is shifting, confidence is rising, onto the famous 17th, reasonable drive into the left semi rough, no trouble there, then I judge the 2nd to perfection, a 7 iron running up the green to 20ft, just perfect, I miss the putt but I’m 2 under, it’s not an easy day, and things are rolling in my favour.

Onto the 18th, reachable most probably as it’s downwind, but it’s not my favourite drive if I’m honest, which I am. I’ve got great memories of winning on this hole, but I’ve always struggled to let go and be free off this tee, so I tee the ball down slightly, I aim left towards the famous clock and hit a lovely cut driver straight at my target. It’s a momentum building shot rather than an excellent one, but I’m 40 yards from the pin, one nice pitch and putt from a 69 and a tremendous return to tournament golf.

I move over to stand next to caddy Martin and I mention that Ryan Fox trying to hit the green with a 3 wood is a strong play, but Martin responds with a hushed tone, he says you’ve teed it up there pointing at the ground. I don’t what he means, then once Ryan is out of the way he pops a tee in the ground showing exactly where I’ve teed the ball up, I’m still at a loss as to what he’s on about then it dawns on me, what Martin is saying is you have teed up on the white markers instead of the blue, whilst they are touching each other giving the impression of being one teeing ground, they are in fact in front of each other not one and the same, once the rules official has come and gone you’re going to be playing three off the tee, and all the momentum you have been building over the last four hours is going to be snatched away in the blink of a rules officials eye.

What a pure example of human error, by me, and human honesty by Martin, his first day on the job, on the most famous and historic hole in the world, he calls a two shot penalty on his own team. Some people don’t get golf as a sport, and I understand why, it’s not for everyone, but surely this example of how golf teaches us to be better, to play by the rules even when it hurts, and even when the rules seem a bit silly, the game itself teaches us to be good people, to be patient, to take bad luck and good luck in the same stride, to leave the course in better condition than we have found it. The rules of golf and more importantly the spirit of golf have developed over the centuries, starting right there at St Andrews, a more fitting place to have been a complete idiot I could not possibly have found.

To round it off after smashing my third shot into the valley of sin, I putted up to three feet and safe in the knowledge that karma has to be on my side and that I would get away with a bogey, I promptly missed the putt to finish with a 6. Maybe the golfing gods are saving up for me this week in Italy.

Watching some of the weekends play from Tyrell Hatton and Ross Fisher it’s clear I have more than a little way to go to start competing properly again, but last week was my first stride on that journey, my body held up ok, I felt the buzz of playing nicely if only for 9 holes and I also got a reminder that playing poorly on tour is still no fun at all, so the only way forward is to take the next step in the right direction this week, and to play from the men’s tees all week too.