Ian Woosnam, the Welsh golfer, learned yesterday that the quality of mercy can be strained too far. A fortnight ago he forgave his caddie for letting him start the last round of the British Open championship, in which he shared the lead, with a club too many in the bag.

Woosnam paid the penalty of two shots - at a cost to him of more than $300,000. Yesterday he paid the price of leniency. Turning up for practice before the last round of the Scandinavian Masters in Malmo, he found no caddie at all.

Miles Byrne had overslept. It was more than Woosnam could take. Two gaffes meant the caddie was out.

Woosnam said: "I haven't seen or heard from Miles. I don't know where he is. I gave him a chance, but one warning is enough. That's it." Forty minutes before the 7.15 a.m. tee-off Byrne, one of five caddie brothers from Bray, Co Wicklow had still not shown up with the locker keys.

Club officials helped Woosnam break in to get his golf spikes, and with time running out, he asked the caddie master, Tommy Strand, for a replacement bag-carrier. With no one else available, Strand did the job himself and guided Woosnam to a 69, his best round of the tournament.

When Byrne discovered the extra club at Royal Lytham, he broached the matter with his master by saying: "You're going to go ballistic about this." Yesterday exchange was shorter.

The word forgiveness was replaced by the word sack - Byrne got it, for staying in it too long. Woosnam appears next in the Wales Open this week. Byrne is unlikely to be in the vicinity.