It was hardly a proper way for hosts to behave, but, not for the first time, Scotland effectively ended Ireland's interest in the £1 million Alfred Dunhill Cup here on the Old Course yesterday. It was the fifth occasion in five meetings that the Scots inflicted grief on their Celtic brethren.
The key point in a 2-1 victory was gained by Gordon Brand Jnr in a 73-77 dismissal of Darren Clarke. And as it happened, Brand was the only survivor from the Scottish side which inflicted the first defeat on the Irish in this event, back in 1986.
"We're a better team than our performances this week would suggest," said skipper Paul McGinley afterwards. And few would argue with that, given that the same three players were unlucky to be deprived of a semi-final place by South Africa 12 months ago.
Zimbabwe, on the other hand, will have to prove themselves to be a considerably better side than they appear, if further progress is to be achieved. The number two seeds have been reduced to two players after the withdrawal yesterday of Nick Price, because of muscle damage in his left side.
In an unprecedented move, Mark McNulty and Tony Johnstone will battle on. And for their meeting with New Zealand today, they announced with wicked grins that they were naming Price to play Frank Nobilo. "Have a nice day off, Frank," said McNulty with some enthusiasm.
Having conceded that match, McNulty and Johnstone are hoping they can win the other two points from Steve Alker and Michael Long to qualify for the semi-finals. The only situation in which they would not have the option of naming an opponent for Price would be if they met top seeds America in the final.
When it became clear yesterday that Johnstone and McNulty had established winning leads against Spain's Miguel-Angel Martin and Ignacio Garrido, respectively, Price withdrew on the 13th tee. He was level with Miguel-Angel Jimenez at the time but was struggling with severe pain.
"I was trying like crazy but the pain became too much," he said. "I made a swing on the seventh tee and how I hit the ball I'll never know. It felt like a desperate lash with the hands and arms.
"I'm afraid my tournament is over. I simply can't risk an injury that could put me out of the game for five or six months."
Johnstone said: "I told Nick on Wednesday not to play at all. I had the same problem in the Dutch Open last July and it's still affecting me three months on. After all that Nick has done for the team, it's time Mark and I carried him for a while."
McNulty was certainly ready to do his part. In a spectacular outward journey of 30, he went birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie, from the fifth to open up a five-stroke lead on Garrido. That front nine equalled the best of the tournament, which Nobilo set earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, after their shock defeat by France on Thursday, Australia sank into further trouble in their clash with Chinese Taipei. On this occasion, however, their blushes were saved by Steve Elkington, who got down in two putts from 70 feet to beat Liang Hsi Chen at the second hole of a sudden-death play-off.
But there was no such reprieve for England. In an extraordinary climax to their clash with Argentina, five of the six players birdied the 18th, the only exception being England's Russell Claydon. The upshot was that Angel Cabrera defeated Lee Westwood by a stroke, so giving the Argentineans a 2-1 victory.
It means that for England to reach the semi-finals, they must beat the US by 3-0 today, which their skipper, Mark James, described as "a shame". Australia must do the same against Sweden and, according to Elkington, "that doesn't look good right now, given the way we're playing".
South Africa also found themselves in trouble, heightening Irish disappointment at the defeat by the Scots. But the key match turned in favour of Ernie Els when the Sven Struver bogeyed the 17th. Then, in the top match, Retief Goosen birdied the 18th to get into a play-off with Thomas Gogele and, from a precarious situation, the South Africans had a surprising, 3-0 victory.
Conditions were a lot more difficult than on the opening day. Though temperatures remained benign, a south-west wind freshened considerably as the day progressed, sweeping the course left to right on the outward journey.
McGinley, at number one, played a captain's role, carding seven birdies in a 69-74 win over Raymond Russell. Nobilo was the only other player to break 70 from the field of 48, and the Dubliner's effort owed much to some splendid putting. He three-putted only twice and took 29 putts overall.
Clarke, on the other hand, had another wretched day with the blade. "I'm a streaky putter and that's simply not good enough," he admitted after losing by four strokes to Brand. "I'll have to give it serious attention during the winter." But there were other problems which contributed to his demise.
For instance, after driving left at the seventh, he had a simple, 92-yard pitch to a generous target, only to duff a wedge into the infamous Strath Bunker, which guards the front of the adjoining 11th green. Clarke then took two to escape and completed the misery by three-putting for a seven.
Still, from being seven strokes behind Brand after the 10th, he closed the gap to two with birdies at the 14th and 15th. He was ultimately undone, however, by a bad lie off the 16th tee from where he failed to reach the green and ran up a bogey five. Brand had the experience to play percentage golf from there in.
Padraig Harrington had the nightmare of four-putting the short 11th from 25 feet, on the way to a four-stroke defeat by Montgomerie. His first effort into the wind went four feet past; the return, downwind, went the same distance beyond the other side of the hole. Further problems on the greens involved three-putting the second and eighth.
"My concentration was poor and I made quite a few silly mistakes," he said. The upshot is that Ireland must beat Germany today to improve their individual return from a minimum £6,500 to £8,500.
Clarke is first off at 9.0 a.m. against Alex Cejka; Harrington comes next against Sven Struver and McGinley plays Gogele.
