Senior's frustration after missing cut at The Open

Heysham’s former amateur star carded rounds of 79 and 73 to finish on 10 over at Royal Troon.

Senior was up against it almost from the off, shooting 41 for his opening nine on Thursday, three further bogies coming home leaving him on eight over par after the first day.

Senior then adapted well to the rain on Friday, birdieing the first and seventh holes of his second round but the tricky turn pegged the Heysham man back as bogeys came at the 10th and 11th.

Two more followed at 17 and 18 to complete a tough two days for Senior up in Scotland.

He said: “It obviously didn’t go as I wanted it to.

“I struggled a little bit with my game.

“I didn’t really get going on the front nine in the first round and don’t think I really recovered.

“If I’d got a bit better start maybe I would have grown into it but I was under pressure from the start.

“I wasn’t nervous on the first tee or anything, maybe just a bit apprehensive about what the day might bring.

“It was good to have my friends and family up there but I just didn’t play as well as I wanted to.”

Senior, who is straight back in action at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in France this week, admitted he was struggling to look on the bright side after his first major championship.

He said: “It’s difficult to try and take the positives.

“It was a great experience to play in The Open but I’ve got to learn not build things up to something they’re not.

“At the end of the day it’s just another golf tournament.

“It’s back to the Challenge Tour this week, almost back to reality.

“I deserved to be there, and wanted to compete with those guys.

“The standard was fantastic though and I showed that I’m not quite at that level.

“Now I’ve just got to try and push on.”

Henrik Stenson won the title in stunning fashion, lifting his first major by carding a 63, the lowest final-day Open winning round, to record a tournament record 20 under par four-round total.