If any of us at Golf Masters' HQ could sing we'd probably treat you to a lusty rendition of This is the Moment to mark the week that's in it but, luckily for you all, there's not a note in our combined heads. This will come as a considerable relief to five residents of Palmerstown (Dublin), Dunmore (Co Galway), Kincasslagh (Co Donegal), Blackrock (Co Dublin) and Lisnagry (Co Limerick) because they're stressed enough without having to listen to us warble tunelessly.
How are the nerves Tim Morris? "Shattered. Shattered. Honest to God, it's too much." Any plans for the weekend? "I don't know what I'll do, it's unwatchable at this stage." So, our leader's nice and relaxed, in no sense at all.
Ray Charles' spokesman (his brother and assistant manager Gay) told us that Castle Street 1's boss was away at the Rose of Tralee festival when we rang, evidently an heroic attempt to take his mind off Golf Mastering things. By the time the pale moon is rising, though, he'll be back in Dunmore to monitor every excruciating stroke played by his key men, Scott McCarron, Brett Rumford and Esteban Toledo, between today and - he hopes - Sunday.
Tim, meanwhile, will very probably watch Bernhard Langer's every move at the BMW International from behind a cushion because his hopes of being crowned our 2001 champion depend very largely on the German's form this week. Barring a catastrophic weekend Langer should book himself a spot in the Ryder Cup team and, barring a catastrophic weekend, Tim should be following him to the Belfry (remember, our top two managers win a trip to the Ryder Cup, with the winner also receiving a cheque for £5,000).
But? The prize-chasing permutations are nigh on infinite. It might look like a straight battle between Tim and Ray for first place but the three managers behind them, Packie Gallagher, Vincent Sheehan and Richard Power, all have transfers in hand and, as Richard put it, "you'd never know, two winners at the weekend and....". Precisely.
Packie's Keadue Rovers, in particular, might be worth keeping an eye on - even before using his two transfers this week he had four players in the field for the BMW International who don't feature in either Tom or Ray's line-ups - Padraig Harrington, Raphael Jacquelin, Desvonde Botes and Elliot Boult.
He also had plenty of transfer money to play with - because Phil Mickelson (worth £4.8 million) won't be playing at the Air Canada Championship he was able to bring in another 'big gun' for the final week. Last we spoke he was considering hiring Colin Montgomerie for the BMW, but was still agonising about it.
Vincent, now just £4,761 behind Packie, also has a transfer to play with..and Kevin Sutherland and Scott McCarron batting for him in Canada.
Richard had two transfers left when we chatted and was still mulling over his options, with Harrington and Mike Weir the most likely new members of Power Plus.
Little wonder, then, that we're reluctant to pin our tipster flag to the mast of any of our contenders.. although, admittedly, it will take some doing to deny Tim or Ray victory. The gap between them is now £62,939 which leaves us with a simple enough equation - McCarron, Rumford and Toledo combined must win £62,939 more than Langer if Ray is to overtake Tim in the final week.
