Lee Westwood laughed off suggestions his best chance of winning the Open had gone after finding himself 13 shots off the lead after 36 holes at Royal Lytham.
Westwood admitted his hopes of winning on Sunday were effectively over after making the halfway cut right on the mark of three over, but was somewhat taken aback when one reporter asked if that applied to his wider major aspirations.
"Who let him in?" Westwood joked. "I'm a contender to win most majors. I play nicely most weeks. And over the last 12 or 13 major championships I've given myself lots of good chances.
"So I'm going to have another chance in three weeks' time (at the US PGA Championship). It's just one of those things. You turn up, you try and play your best. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."
Paul Lawrie famously won at Carnoustie in 1999 after being 10 shots behind with just 18 holes remaining, but asked about his chances of lifting the Claret Jug on Sunday, Westwood added: "I would say it's remote with the weather forecast, because I think from the cut line you'd need it to blow pretty strongly both days, and I think tomorrow is forecast to be pretty calm again.
"I wouldn't see the lads coming back when everybody else is going forward. I would say anybody level par or better has got a sniff. Shoot 65 tomorrow and the two lads (leader Brandt Snedeker and second-placed Adam Scott) shoot level themselves, you're four and five down, with a windy day coming up.
"You could be out early in the morning, like you saw at Muirfield a few years ago. Guys went out and shot 65s and 64s early, and then in the afternoon it played like par-78. That's the interesting thing about links golf."
