It was almost like a golfing Bannockburn with Scots converging on the enemy from all directions. And at the end of it all, the brave heart of Colin Montgomerie triumphed in the £1.2 million Volvo PGA Championship here on the West Course yesterday, when he sank an eight-foot birdie putt on the last green to win by a stroke.
With unprecedented dominance of this prestigious event, four Scottish players - Montgomerie, Gary Orr, Dean Robertson and Andrew Coltart - finished in the top 10. Yet the trophy could have gone elsewhere, when Patrik Sjoland and the formidable figure of Ernie Els shared the clubhouse lead with Orr on 13 under.
The possibility of a play-off at that stage, heightened appreciably when Montgomerie, playing with Robertson in the last two-ball of the day, pushed his drive into rough down the 18th. Finally, from a 105-yard lob-wedge, everything came down to the last putt of the day.
"The line was slightly outside the right lip and, to be honest, I pushed it a hair," said the champion afterwards. "But the important thing is that it dropped in. And it proved I can do it when it matters."
It most certainly did. And it would be difficult to imagine a more appropriate finish to a finale of nerve-tingling tension and wonderful golf. Sjoland and Gordon Brand Jnr surged through the field with outward nines of 31 on the way to sparkling 66s. And, of course, Montgomerie also broke 70 when it mattered most.
"I wanted that last putt to go in because I don't fancy myself in play-offs," he added. "I changed my putter for the second round on Saturday and it did me the world of good." Then with a grin: "I'm lucky in that I don't suffer from nerves in a crisis." His Ryder Cup performance at Valderrama last September bore rich testimony to that assertion.
A winning total of 14-under-par brought the big Scot a top prize of £200,000 and compensated for six top-10 finishes in nine previous attempts. And in the context of the top-10, Paul McGinley headed the Irish challenge by claiming 10th place on his own.
"I just hope it's the same result when we go to the US Open in a couple of weeks' time," said Montgomerie to his great rival Ernie Els. And the South African was typically gracious in accepting defeat for a second time this season, having lost to the Scot in the final of the Andersen Consulting World Championship in January.
"The stage belongs to Colin and he deserves it," said Els, whose challenge faltered seriously with bogeys at the 13th and 14th, after he had failed to birdie the long 12th. Granted, he went on to birdie three of the last four holes, holing from 18 feet at the 17th and reaching the 18th with a sixiron second shot. But, in terms of securing a clear lead, the damage had been done.
Sjoland, recent winner of the Italian Open, also had cause for regret. A pulled three-wood off the 15th tee led to a very costly bogey, even allowing for the fact that he birdied two of the three remaining holes.
For several pulsating minutes during a tense afternoon, it looked as if Seve Ballesteros might somehow regain the magic which has seen his one-time rival, Tom Watson, return to prominence in the US. An eagle at the long fourth, where he sank a 12-foot putt, brought the Spaniard to nine under par and within two of the lead.
"I became very erratic off the tee," he said by way of explaining his score of two over par for the remaining 14 holes.
After nine holes of the final round, the improbable name of Orr was on top of the leaderboard at 13 under par, a stroke ahead of Montgomerie, Els, Robertson and Sjoland in a share of second place. Two holes later, after Orr and Montgomerie had bogeyed the 11th, Orr, Els and Robertson led jointly on 12 under.
Then, in a dramatic change of fortunes, Robertson, a 1993 Walker Cup player who missed five out of his previous 11 cuts in Europe this season, led on his own on 13 under par.
"I was in control of my game before those three putts on the 14th really unsettled me," said Robertson afterwards. "It was difficult playing with Colin because of the crowd. There was a lot going on and it was hard to maintain concentration."
Montgomerie's concern about a possible play-off was entirely understandable, given that he lost all three in which he has been involved so far in Europe, apart from two in the US. But he seems to have found a way of avoiding such torment.
"I've done it a few times now, needing a four or a three to win, whatever the case may be," he said afterwards. "I think the Ryder Cup experience against Scott Hoch (when he achieved the crucial half-point which kept the cup in Europe) helped me. That was tremendous pressure and it stood me in good stead."
