16 July 2011 09:08 GMT

Despite the gloomy weather forecast, crowds are flooding over the giant sandhills that are such a feature of the Royal St George’s course, providing wonderful vantage points for watching the world’s greatest players in action. Attendance figures for the week so far are high.

Over the course of the practice days 31,000 came through the gates and 31,500 watched the first day’s play on Thursday. That figure rose to 42,500 in the sunnier and warmer conditions of Friday, taking the total attendance for the week so far to 105,000.

A big factor has been the direct train service from London, connecting with buses that deliver spectators to the course and making it possible to reach Royal St George’s from the capital in one-and-a-half hours.