Southgate still doing England proud ( even without the waistcoat! )

The World Cup is done, but one Southgate is still in contention for a trophy this summer.

It is Matthew rather than Gareth eyeing the prize, and while the england manager’s bid for glory foundered in the uncharted territory of a World Cup semi-final, the golfer of the same name is on more familiar ground as he seeks to win the Open.

The Southgate in action this week has been a member at Carnoustie since his father Ian bought him the gift for his 16th birthday.

he said: ‘I don’t think you can know the course much better than I do. I’d be lying if I said I knew every break on every putt, but I’m not far off.’

Southgate was speaking after an early-morning round of 69 put him in position to make a real go of winning the Claret Jug, and following Open finishes of 12th and sixth in the past two years, he is a formidable contender. Southgate is from Southend- on-Sea in essex, but knows these parts well because his dad would regularly travel up with son in tow to play the best Scottish courses.

So, the 29-year-old estimates he has visited here more than 50 times and he is right in his comfort zone.

‘The whole town know me and my dad,’ Southgate said. ‘It’s lovely. It’s a home away from home. What’s nice for me is when you walk to the local Chinese to pick up a takeaway and bump into two or three people you know.

‘Dad’s the same. There’s not one pub in the town we can’t walk in and find someone with an old golf story to sit down with and have a chat.’

he even provides recommendations. ‘You’ve got to have an Arbroath smokie.’ Southgate is not all nostalgia, though. ‘As a kid I envisaged winning the Open. Now, being older, I don’t,’ he said.

‘I see the professional that’s got the ability to shoot four good scores on a really tough course, and some of them might just give you the Claret Jug. You shoot four rounds in the 60s and you’re going to be there or thereabouts.’

Southgate’s sunny disposition stems perhaps from beating testicular cancer in 2015, while another englishman who has overcome adversity also stands at two under heading into today’s second round.

Danny Willett has endured a painful time since winning the 2016 Masters, struggling badly for form amid back and shoulder injuries and drifting outside the top 450 earlier this season.

But the 30- year- old performed well at recent Irish and Scottish Opens and looked good in the pleasant conditions yesterday morning.

Willett’s score could have been even better. he missed birdie attempts at 15 and 16, and made bogeys after finding bunkers at 17 and 18.

But after all his troubles, the son of Sheffield was positive and his humour was intact.

Asked how dark his mood had been recently, he replied quick as a flash: ‘Pitch black! It wasn’t fun getting on the plane and wondering if you were actually going to be able to play, the body being really uncooperative.

‘ I’m pretty hopeful we’ll never be in as dark a place as we were. You get ebbs and flows but I’ve really enjoyed golf the last six, seven weeks. even getting the clubs out and going to play at home without having to do two hours of warm-up and see the physio feels pretty good.’

Still, the fierce competitor was frustrated at his finish. ‘Perspective is good, but you still get annoyed,’ he said.

‘ You still want to make everything. It’s definitely nice to be stood here after shooting a relatively stressfree 69. You look at the number as a whole.’