It's funny what a little water can do to a man

MIDMORNING, and a seasoned observer is commenting on how well everyone has been coping at the K Club's treacherous 16th hole.

Everywhere out on the course there is admiration for the way the players are coping with the conditions, but nowhere is the admiration greater than at the most far flung edge of the course where, this particular spectator notes only one out of each group seems to be taking a plunge.

"It was twice that last year," he remarks little realising that before long it will, once again be taking just that sort of toll.

With water running all the way down the right of a narrow fairway, trees to the left, a lake in front of the green and hedges, then the Liffey behind it, there is not much room for manoeuvre. And as the weather steadily worsened through the afternoon, so too did the fortunes of those whose aim or nerve deserted them for the briefest of moments.

Like Tom Lehman's homeland, its 395 yards are a land of opportunity - so many ways to fail - and the British Open champion explored more than one of the less attractive avenues available. First, he drove a long tee shot wide to the left, and then, from behind a large mound, lofted the ball high, short and straight into the middle of the lake.

Matters were not helped much by the pin placement, 12 feet from the front, just to the right of a sizeable bunker. To his credit, though, the 37-year-old recovered marvellously well after taking his drop: he chipped to 12 feet of the flag and holed the putt to drop only one shot. Sandy Lyle actually had a seven to be proud of, given that both his tee-shot and third shot landed in water.

Others weren't so fortunate at digging themselves out of trouble. Paul Eales failed to retrieve his ball from between the rocks on the edge of the green, Jay Townsend had to settle for putting from the water's edge into the middle of the bunker, and Jamie Spence suffered the frustration of seeing his second shot hit dry land on the far side of the lake before the ball hopped three feet into the air and promptly joined the thousands of its compatriots in the nearby depths.

Mats Hallberg, though, will be especially keen to forget the trend he briefly set when he submerged his ball on three separate occasions on the way to a six-over-par 10. Eric Giraud, following immediately behind, found the Swede's lead entirely irresistible.

Hallberg would have finished level for the day had it not been for his prolonged aquatic adventure, while the Frenchman, who only had to drop twice but made up for his good fortune on the green, would have retained a reasonable chance of making the cut with a 74.

But for Ireland's Eoghan O'Connell, his fate at the 16th must simply have seemed like Arnold Palmer's way of kicking him when he was already well and truly down.

Overall, more than 60 of those attempting it yesterday lost at least a stroke, while the 4.57 shots taken on average to complete it was fractionally more than the figure for the 18th - a par five that is 123 yards longer.