Faldo refuses to walk away from the battle on the Firth

A day after his 45th birthday, the former champion finds the sharp edge that brought him heartening results at the Masters and US Open

More exciting moves were being made out on the course which he made, along with Augusta National, a cornerstone of his status as a major golfer, but Nick Faldo could yet again look anyone in the eye here on the banks of the Firth of Forth.

Yes, he agreed, he had frustrations, but they were almost too few to mention when you set them against the meaning of his latest refusal to walk away from a battle being waged at the top of the game.

The day after his 45th birthday, Faldo passed another milestone when he shot a 69 that banished fears of missing the cut. It took him past Jack Nicklaus' record as the scorer of the most sub-70 rounds at the Open.

"Any time you beat one of Jack's records it has to be good," said Faldo, "and, though I'm struggling on the greens, I know I can still whizz in a few good shots. The one-iron for 250 yards to within three feet at the fifth was a bit nifty."

It brought him an eagle and then, when he produced an approach shot which left him a foot for birdie on the next hole, we had one of the most stirring prospects in all of sport: an old champion finding, however briefly, the vein of talent and inspiration which first made him great.

Faldo, as a 29-year-old, confounded the laws of golfing probability by completely re-modelling the swing which would bring him three three Masters titles and three Opens, including the last two played here, in 1987 and 1992. Now, he says that, if golf is in many ways a new and more demanding game, he can still play it while meeting all his old competitive demands.

As his playing partners Hal Sutton and Phil Mickelson, the world No 2 who would trade a considerable slice of his vast earnings for one of the Claret Jugs or green jackets won by Faldo, lapsed and sighed in the drizzle, Faldo maintained his hard edge. This is the same edge which made him the joint top British player – with yesterday's virtuoso Colin Montgomerie – at the Masters in April and brought him fifth place in the US Open.

He said, "I hate playing badly and as long as I feel like this I'll continue to work at the game with a view to winning major tournaments. The minute I'm not thinking this way, I'm out of it.

"I was very frustrated yesterday but I have to make a few swing changes and re-build. Then I have to make the mental decision and go for it, all out. The goal for me at the start of the year was simply to enjoy it – and that meant playing well. My problem here, apart from making too many changes in mid-swing, is on the green because in three days I've made one 15-footer.

"I'm struggling with the pace and reading of the greens, but the pins are in tough positions, as you can see in a lot of the scoring so far. I've tried to make life easier by getting the ball close to the pin but even if you do it you can find yourself in the wrong corner of the green, and it means there are a lot of side-winding putts.

"The pin positions are very tough indeed. In the good old days here, when I won, they put the pin on three yards of flat green because of the idea that you can't be too unsporting. But now they like to see grown men weep. The game has moved on and that's the only way to protect a links course when the wind goes down. They have chosen all the wicked spots."

Not so long ago such a statement from Faldo would have sounded less like a touch of course assessment than the airing of an old theory that he was the victim of some deep and intricate conspiracy. But a pattern of breezy self-analysis, even in the most unpromising circumstances, seems to be firmly in place. There were times out on the course when the old bleak Faldo seemed just a flounce or two away. When he pulled his drive into the rough on the par-five 17th, and lost his last big opportunity to edge another step closer to the leaders, his shoulders slumped briefly, and then when his third shot rested short of the green, he angrily discarded his club. But these were fleeting moments of despair and, when he emerged from the scorer's tent, much of the recent buoyancy had returned.

"You're getting wet – good," he observed to a group of golf writers he once regarded as a modern version of the Spanish Inquisition. And when someone protested that he was supposed to be a changed man, he shrugged and agreed that it was a case of "no more Mr Nice Guy". He has a much lighter touch now, and though some may have the sceptical theory that the mood swing is likely to last roughly as long as the impressive upturn in his form, he remains buoyed by something that is difficult to distinguish from genuine hope.

Certainly he believes that his presence here offers rather more than mere nostalgia. "Though it is tough, I definitely believe this course is playable – and something decent is do-able. I'm a few shots back but hopefully the weather is going to change and we will get a bit of wind. It means that with these tough pin positions a round of 68 or 69 can look very good. You can move into a contending position, and as I say, if I didn't think I was going to find myself in that position again I wouldn't be here now. "

It was, all in all, scarcely the musings of a dreamer. "For me, the point of the game has always been to win, to make yourself as competitive as you can possibly be. I know I still have a lot of work to do, but it's a prospect that doesn't worry me. I enjoy the work."

Yesterday, when that big one-iron soared into its wondrous trajectory, it was plainly rather more than another stint at the coal-face. It was the touch of a champion who believes that he can still make it all work again.