Ireland's Paul McGinley and Welshman Phil Price have both won over £1 million on the European tour - but they are hoping that their best days have still to come, starting this weekend.
The two 32-year-olds, with only three tour victories between them, took the honours in the opening round of the £850,000 Dubai Desert Classic yesterday.
With five under par 67s on a Dubai Creek course where the rough is so thick that ball-spotters are employed on every hole, McGinley and Price lead by a stroke from Australian Wayne Riley, German Alex Cejka and 19-year-old British amateur champion Sergio Garcia.
The main attractions are spread out further behind - defending champion Jose Maria Olazabal on 69 after a double bogey on the last, Colin Montgomerie on 70, Lee Westwood and Mark O'Meara on 72, struggling Nick Faldo three strokes further back and both Ian Woosnam and Seve Ballesteros already 11 adrift following 78s.
On the same mark after another day of bitter disappointment is Hampshire's Justin Rose.
Seven months on from finishing fourth in the Open as an amateur, 18-year-old Rose is now facing his 13th successive missed cut in the paid ranks.
After starting with a double bogey seven and falling to six over par after 10 holes, Rose, playing on a sponsor's invitation, fought his way back to three over, but then finished with a triple bogey eight.
In the trees off the tee at the 529-yard ninth - his 18th - the teenager played his second shot down the nearby first fairway, only to be then told that it was out of bounds for the tournament.
"I suppose it's my fault for not reading the local rules, but that just kicks you in the crutch," he said. "I've just got to be patient - it's hard, but I've just got to be."
Patience was the key thought for McGinley as well as he plotted his way through the potential minefield.
"I knew there was a way to play the course the way it's set up," said the Dubliner, winner of the World Cup for Ireland with Padraig Harrington two years ago.
"You can't be too ambitious - sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and par is a good score on any hole in these conditions, even the par fives."
Partnering six-time European number one Montgomerie, McGinley relished the spotlight by picking up three birdies in his first four holes and with two to play was six under. The one blot on his copybook came when he three-putted the short eighth.
Price did not drop a single stroke as he rediscovered the form that put him 15th on last season's Order of Merit and earned him a US Open debut this June.
"I'm really pleased because I struggled at the end of last year," he said. "I became very technical and didn't want to play much, but now I'm hungry again and am aiming for the top 10 this year."
Faldo's concern is getting into the 64-man field for the Andersen Consulting World Match Play Championship in California in two weeks' time.
He currently stands 65th in the world rankings and he did his prospects no good at all by missing 12 of the 18 greens.
The 41-year-old former world number one also cursed his driving. "I just played badly - I was going left and right," he commented after a round that contained sixes on the ninth and 13th.
Garcia is one of the most exciting talents to emerge in the sport in years.
He did not miss a single cut in seven appearances on the European tour last year and says: "I always try to win - I think it's mentality you need to be a good player."
With the confidence of youth he does not even rule out becoming the first amateur to win the Masters in April.
"I know it's difficult, but if I have a good week why not? Justin was fourth at the British last year."
Montgomerie's game-plan included keeping his driver in his locker and hitting two five-irons on the 395-yard third, where he was rewarded with an eight-foot birdie putt.
It was one of only three he had, but his only blemish, like McGinley, was a three-putt and his lunchtime prediction that he would remain only three behind all day was proved right.
O'Meara was two over par at the turn, but birdied the 15th and 16th.
