THEY CAME in their thousands to Erinvale yesterday in expectation of a triumphant march by the pride of South African golf. And there was never a hint that Ernie Els and Wayne Westner might disappoint the faithful as they swept to a record-breaking World Cup triumph with a stunning aggregate of 29 under par.

This winning score was 18 strokes clear of the defending champions, the United States, who rallied impressively from third place overnight to edge Scotland out of the runners-up position. As it happened, the previous record victory margins of 14 under par was established by the celebrated American partnership of Ben Hogan and Sam Snead at Wentworth in 1956 and equalled by Fred Couples and Davis Love in Puerto Rico two years ago.

In winning the trophy for a third time, South Africa also gained the distinction of having the top two individual scorers, with Els on 272 (16 under), three strokes ahead of his compatriot. This was done on only two previous occasions, by Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer in 1964 and by John Mahaffey and Andy North in 1978. American dominance was emphatically broken.

Meanwhile, there was a decidedly curious finale by Ireland as Darren Clarke shot a magnificent, course-record 64 while the team languished in 19th place, Clarke and Padraig Harrington sharing $8,800. It was the worst finish by an Irish side since 1971 at Palm Beach, where Christy O'Connor Snr and Hugh Jackson were also 19th.

An indication of the gulf in form between the two players was that 14 strokes separated them in individual scores Clarke at two under (tied 13th) and Harrington on 12 over (tied 49th). Meanwhile, their desperate position of 12-over after Saturday's third round, prompted Clarke to go "cold" to the first tee yesterday, without hitting any practice balls.

Scotland's hopes of at least forcing, a tic with the Americans for "the other tournament", took a nosedive when a poor drive by Andrew Coltart led to a bogey at the long 16th. At the same time, Steve Jones was making a birdie at the 17th to bring his side to 11th under.

Given the margin of victory, nobody begrudged the South Africans their triumph. Attendance records were broken from the opening round and a remarkable 31,904 lined the fairways yesterday in the often vain hope of seeing their heroes in action.

"I don't think I'll ever forget this," said Els, after a closing 67. "It's been an unbelievable week for me, very close to my US Open win at Oakmont in 1994. To have such crowds watching us every day and then to win the World Cup on its first staging in Africa is what dreams are made of."

Meanwhile, Clarke's round emphasised the richness of a talent that has made him Ireland's leading money winner in Europe for the last four years. And we knew from a round of 60 at Monte Carlo in 1992 and 62s in the BMW International (1992) and British Masters (1995), that he had no fear of shooting low figures.

As he put it: "I could see every shot so easily and there wasn't a flag I felt I couldn't reach with comfort." Indeed the fact that he took the unusually high number of 28 putts, including a three-putt double-bogey at the 10th, was indicative of majestic approach play.

Ironically, with 10 birdies on his card, the shot he most cherished from the round failed to deliver that reward. It came at the 466-yard sixth where he faced a 184-yard four-iron approach shot, drawn over water into a left to right wind. "The ball finished 20 feet from the hole but I really caught it flush," he enthused.

Clarke's round opened promisingly when a 20-foot birdie putt found the target at the first. And from then his iron play was generally of such a high standard that the longest putt he required for five further birdies on the front nine was from five feet. Mind you, it helped that he drove the green at the 329-yard fifth.

His double-bogey at the 10th resulted largely from a pushed drive into the right rough. From there, his short-iron approach finished in a grass depression short of the green and after pitching to 10 feet, he paid the ultimate penalty for charging the first putt four feet past.

With supreme confidence in his swing, however, the ugly six became no more than a minor interruption. A six-footer and two putts from four feet yielded birdies at the 11th, 12th and 15th and there was an appropriate finish to the round when a 30-footer was stroked unerringly into the cup at the last.

By comparison, Harrington's 78 took the form of a painful journey, starting with a double-bogey at the first where he drove into water. In fact he was nine times in water over the four days and twice out of bounds, one of which led to a triple-bogey eight at the long seventh yesterday.