If Matt Ford did this interview in a month or two, maybe his answers would come from a different perspective.

But the emotion of missing the cut at his debut Open Championship last Friday at St Andrews is still raw. Disappointment outweighs pride, dropped shots override birdies.

As a professional sportsman, dropping back to finish three over par after scoring an opening round one-under 71 represents a perceived drop in standards. It shouldn’t.

The 44-year-old from Bearsted was playing in the 150th Open and left with his head held high, despite a final round where “the putter went cold” and staff were “emptying the bins” as Ford played the biggest round of his career.

“It was an amazing week and some memories that I’ll take with me for the rest of my life,” conceded Ford. “You can’t buy that, there were so many parts to it that add up to an amazing week.

“I still feel a little disappointed with how I played on the Friday, but that seems to be slowly fading away and the bigger picture is becoming stronger.”

Ford knows it was a step up in class, on and off the course.

“As an event it was the biggest that I’ve played and the best experiences from a personal or family point of view,” he continued.

“Obviously, I think you tend to remember the tournaments where you finish well.

“I don’t know if I’d put the event from a golfing perspective above my second place at the African Open, just because that was a big event and a big performance.

“At the end of the day we’re in a game where performance is key, so my performance in the second round was disappointing.”

That second round must have left a bitter taste in the mouth. Last out at 4.15pm, Ford was met with constant delays given the nature of St Andrews and the hard fairways. It meant bottlenecks appeared and the group regularly had long waits to contend with.

“It’s not an easy thing being last out at 4.15pm,” smiled Ford. “The wind direction had changed so we were playing a different golf course and the temperature really dropped as well.

“The hardest thing was the speed of play. I reckon we had about five or six tees where we waited up to 20 minutes on the tee, so we waited over an hour on tee boxes. It was a six-hour round but we were only playing golf for four and a half hours. That was awkward.

“With that late start, you feel like you are trying to save energy throughout the day and then when you do play you feel a little flat. They were emptying the bins as you go round. I had a few people watching still but they were more family and friends than anything else.”

As for the golf itself, Ford remembered the missed opportunities just as much as the good shots.

“I was pretty happy with the first round, I played a lot of nice golf,” he said. “I got off to a bad start and then played some really nice golf around the turn.

“I hit a nice tee and a nice iron at 16, the drive on 12 was good and I was disappointed I missed the five-footer for eagle on that hole. I would have taken anything under par on the first round.

“I got off to a bad start again on Friday, I hit one or two poor tee shots and I had two three-putts early on. The greens were a bit slower after the morning rain and I struggled with that.

“I got going with a birdie on nine, a nice opportunity on 10 and a nice iron on 12 which got a really hard bounce and went over the green so I made bogey there.

“I made a really good birdie on 13 when I hit a five-iron into about six-feet to get back to one over and then I three-putted the next two greens.

“In the end the putter went stone cold and the whole scenario went against me. I’m still disappointed because to play four rounds would have been amazing. The pace of the greens threw me a bit and I hit a couple of poor tee shots but you can play away from a lot of the bunkers, I can’t blame it just on luck.

“I didn’t feel like it was too difficult or anything like that, I just threw away too many shots on that last day which I can’t do in a major.”

I suggest to Ford that he’s being particularly harsh on his efforts. After all, he did finish above the likes of Brooks Koepka and Tiger Woods. Even the winner 12 months ago at Royal St George’s - Collin Morikawa - didn’t make the cut.

“That’s one of my negative sides, I am hard on myself,” he responded. “To play well in that first round and some of the good shots I hit you can’t take away. There were some positive moments, to qualify at Princes in itself you have to play some good golf.

“To shoot one under on the first day with a double bogey and make six birdies in the windiest conditions of the day are positives. I felt really good going into the tournament, the preparation had gone well.

“To be disappointed after is something we have to deal with as professional athletes.

“I feel I have been on an upward trend in the last month or so, the results haven’t quite shown it in my opinion but it feels like I am going in the right direction and I’m confident there will be some good results sooner rather than later.”

In time Ford will remember the week for what it was, not what might have been. Memories with wife Suzie and children Teagan and Oscar “money can’t buy”.

They include Teagan’s persistence paying off as she landed a photo with Woods.

“It’s difficult to pick one, there were so many,” said Ford, who had Ian Pether on the bag.

“Both kids got to hit off the 18th tee, when we were playing with Patrick Reed so that was a highlight.

“There’s a photo of my family on the bridge which was taken by a professional photographer.

“Teagan had her photo and signature with Tiger Woods, my boy was with me on the chipping green at the time. She must have waited for an hour and half but he didn’t have the patience to stay there!

“The Open bag from Callaway had my sponsor, CK Cleaning Group, on it. He was loving it as well and has been such a big supporter of mine over the last 15 years or so.

“For him to carry the bag and be involved, it was nice to be able to give him that.

“It had been my wife’s dream as well for me to play The Open so she had a good week, too.”