As Matthew Jordan approached his ball, having shot it 20 yards on the 16th hole, one of the many friendly voices offered some comfort.
“I saw the lie, Matty, and it’s okay,” said a voice from the other side of the ropes.
Jordan smiled and winked at his godfather Stuart. Next to him was Jordan’s father, Andy. And so on, Jordan’s uplifting journey around the hardened ties of his home club swinging wildly between the intimate and the mainstream.
As he left the 18th green after finishing an incredibly consistent round with a double bogey at 17 and a fling that nearly led to an unlikely birdie on the final, Jordan – a tournament underdog – stopped to sign a golf ball for a young lad.
“My dad taught you business studies and says hello to you,” the youngster said.
Hometown hero Matthew Jordan (pictured) relishes the challenge from Royal Liverpool
The Englishman finished Friday with a par one under 36 holes, but while he enjoyed the fan support he said he needed to stay focused.
Jordan said he was “trying to calm down” amid the emotions of playing on his home course, which has been a real challenge this week for many of the world’s best.
What other kind of elite sport gives us this combination of elite and ordinary standards? It’s hard to think of one.
For Jordan, just 27, the challenge has been to somehow separate the two things in his head and from that perspective, his scorecard is a testament to a job well done.
When he hit a short putt that went around the cup and par on the 16th green, Jordan was tied for sixth at three under par.
His golf around a loop he knows so well had been as resolute as that number suggested. He had bogeyed first but that had been a rare misstep.
With two holes remaining, it was an under-the-card for the day on an afternoon when the wind whipped around a bit and Royal Liverpool were able to show at least some of their teeth.
Hole 17 was, it turned out, a try. A tee shot that flew over the green landed in the sandy waste beyond and from there it took two attempts to find the putting surface.
Two putts later and he had real damage to record on his card for the first time.
His tee shot 18 was then hit by a tired golfer. He later admitted that those two days had been emotionally draining.
Shooting miles left, Jordan feared losing and played another ball. Disaster did not beckon until the first ball was located just 150 yards from the tee, after crashing into the spectator railings and bouncing back into the fairway.
“I’ve played my second shot from this far before, but not for many years and not for this reason,” Jordan laughed afterwards.
From there, Jordan had to reach the green with two more shots and after a birdie putt slipped, he looked up at the giant scoreboard to see his name with a red number next to it. “I think I’m just trying to calm down,” Jordan said, minutes after signing his card.
“It was a roller coaster. At 17, you know, it happens. It’s hard. We got it wrong. It’s golf. And then there was what happened at 18 and the reception I got. So I think I had a lot of emotions in a short time.
‘But it’s still brilliant. I just want it to continue.
When Jordan was six or seven years old, he regularly competed against the best golfers at the Hoylake club in pitching and putting. Normally he would win. On Friday he needed a bit of that and overall it went well for him. Seven times he went up and down for the par on an afternoon that saw him miss more greens than he would have liked.
The highlights arguably came on the 12th when, having cursed himself for finding a bunker from the tee, he splashed sideways, launched 15 feet 120 yards and punched the putt for a par.
This led to the first fist pump of the day and the ensuing birdie at par three 13 was enthusiastically received.
“The support has been tremendous,” Jordan said.
“If I start reacting and acting a bit, then of course that’s when I could probably lose focus.
Despite this, he said “the support has been tremendous” and has engaged with many people on the other side of the ropes, including close friends and family members.
Jordan is now in the prime position to mount an attack at the top of the standings, sitting in T11 ahead of moving day
“But even when you’ve made a mistake, you just want to keep going and keep raising them.”
With rain set to change the complexion of this tournament over the next few days, Jordan may still have more to contribute. Having played here hundreds of times before, it’s unlikely to be fazed.
Its impact has already been made, however, and if context sometimes helps frame an achievement, then here it is.
As he left the 18th green, the scores of the trio playing behind were placed on the board. At that point, they were a combined 39 over par.