Watching Hal Sutton being interviewed by ESPN on Sunday night, after he had won the Canadian Open in Ontario, it became patently clear that this man had absolutely no idea just how significant his victory was, in the overall scheme of Golf Masters' things, nor did he realise to whom it meant most. He looked into the camera and sent greetings to his daughters Samantha, Sara and Sadie in Louisiana, saying "This win is for you", but he never mentioned Pat in Stillorgan. And Hal? We can ensure you that Pat in Stillorgan was a whole lot more emotional about your first tournament win of 1999 than Samantha and twins Sara and Sadie could ever be (not least because they're all under three).
"After Monty's performance at the British Masters I said `That's me gone', but then Hal turned up trumps for me," said a drained Pat Corby, who admits that he'll be "glad when the competition's over". There's only so much more of this he can take.
But, thanks largely to Sutton, Pat has retained first place on the overall leaderboard going into the final week of the competition, when the Lancome Trophy in Paris and the BC Open in New York will determine the destination of that £10,000 cheque for first prize (£1,000 for second and £500 for third). Second-placed David Maune's Cremorne 1 had a healthy £75,000 lead over Pat's Blackbirds 7 going into the final round of the Canadian Open, having had their account boosted by Colin Montgomerie's cheque for £120,000 (for his second-place finish at the British Masters), but they were let down by Len Mattiace and Chris DiMarco, who both finished outside the top 30 in Ontario, while Sutton's win helped Pat stretch his week 27 lead by just under £1,000. Should he hold out to win the competition, Pat can reflect with some satisfaction on his final transfer, made late on Wednesday of last week, when he replaced Padraig Harrington with Paul McGinley: McGinley's share of 10th place at Woburn won the leaders a much-needed £42,563.
Nobody in the top 10 had a better week than Tom Hayes's Dunmore Swingers (who had both Sutton and Montgomerie in their lineup), while Bob May's British Masters' win helped Pat Doyle move to within just £1,630 of third-placed Roger Mullarkey. Roger is still recovering from the shock of Paul Lawrie missing the cut at Woburn, a calamity, he reckons, which all but ends Twilight Zone's hopes of over-taking the top two. But they're still in with a chance, as is every other top 10 team bar Pat's sixth-placed Blackbirds 10, who cannot win the first prize because three of the four players they have in action this week are also in Blackbirds 7's lineup.
The top three teams all have five players in the fields for this week's tournaments (see right for line-ups), although Pat is beginning to wonder if one of his players, Willie Wood, will ever turn up for action again. For the third successive week Wood is listed in the entry for a tournament, but he failed to appear in the last two. We tried to ring the USPGA the past two days to find out if there was any hope of Willie making it to New York but Hurricane Floyd thwarted our efforts - the USPGA is based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, where the phones are currently down. One player Pat will definitely have to do without this week is Sutton. "I heard him being interviewed after the Canadian Open and he said `I'm going home to the family now to rest', and I was saying `No! Hang in another week!'."
Sutton ignored Pat's pleas and is resting up before the Ryder Cup, leaving Blackbirds 7 relying on Chris Perry (the defending BC Open champion), Ian Garbutt, Paul McGinley and (if he appears) Willie Wood this week. Not for the first time David will be looking to Monty (who has won almost a third of Cremorne 1's total prize money this year) to keep his Golf Masters' winning hopes alive, along with Chris DiMarco, Steve Pate and Des Smyth. That quartet must win £17,135 more than Pat's foursome if David is to succeed Paul Sheehan as Golf Masters' champion.
The best of luck to all our managers still in contention for first prize. As Hal Sutton put it last Sunday, "winning always makes you feel better, even if you have had a good year". Pat (Corby), David, Roger, Pat (Doyle), Tom, Paul, Kevin and Declan would echo those sentiments, we suspect. We have a hunch that the "two" unnamed managers to share the weekly prize in week 28 are one and the same: if your recognise yourself from the team number or from the team name Oisin 99, ring the helpline, with your pin number, and we'll send you to Mount Juliet for a fourball.
