Several minutes had elapsed since the end of his round but Tony Johnstone remained hunched in the locker-room, head in hands. A closing bogey, which pushed him out to one over par for the tournament, was almost too much to bear, even for a 20-year tour veteran.

Elsewhere in the Fota Island clubhouse, Canadian caddie Lorne Duncan was telling colleagues: "I made that speech when we were on the 18th tee." His "master", Anders Forsbrand, was outside in the players' lounge, having lunch.

Three putts for a bogey on the 16th were followed by a wayward tee-shot for another bogey at the next.

It meant the 40-year-old Swede would need an eagle at the last to get back to level-par overall and be sure of making the cut.

The speech, as Duncan called it, had to do with a situation related to him by Forsbrand's former caddie, Colin Byrne, during the BMW International Open of 1994. Needing a par on the last to make the cut, the Swede hit a miraculous eight-iron recovery from a dry ditch, moving the ball dramatically in the air to land it on the green and ensure salvation.

Forsbrand remembered it. He also remembered the British Open at Turnberry earlier that year, when he had single-putted the last four greens of his second round to scrape through on the limit.

Lifted by those positive memories, his drive down Fota's 18th was good. So was the seven-iron shot of 207 yards which came to rest 15 feet short of the hole. All that remained was to find the target for an eagle three and he could plan for the weekend.

In that moment, his upbeat mood from the tee was replaced by the indecision which had led to missed putts on the previous two greens.

For a beautiful moment, the ball seemed destined to drop, but there wasn't sufficient pace to carry it the remaining few inches into the cup.

Perhaps the time had come to head for the putting green and go to work with the broomhandle putter he had taken delivery off earlier this week.

The long wait began. There was always the possibility that freshening winds would push the cut out to plus one, but deep down, Johnstone and Forsbrand sensed they hadn't done enough: level-par was the target.

And they right. Five hours later, the bad news was confirmed. By which stage two veterans, with 35 tournament wins between them, had come to terms with the bitter side of a demanding game.