There is always a touch of peril attached to any blind shot in golf but when you're playing in a European Tour event, complete with marshals and galleries, the risk is assuaged considerably; or so you'd think.
During Thursday's opening round Australia's Peter Lonard strode to the eighth tee at Portmarnock having accumulated regulation figures for the first seven holes. It's a blind tee shot with high mounding obscuring the players' view of the fairway.
He thumped his drive but considered that the line of flight might have taken it into the heavy rough, therefore opting to hit a provisional.
Unknown to the 36-year-old, his first ball came to rest in the centre of the fairway.
Lonard proceeded to search the rough, locating his provisional ball, and while searching for the original and taking the allotted five minutes, decided to call through the match behind.
Two marshals stationed close to the landing area for tee shots at the eighth silently watched Lonard's group scour the rough but amazingly didn't call attention to the ball that lay in the middle of the fairway.
Seconds after the permitted time had elapsed, it was communicated to Lonard that a ball, his ball, lay on the centre of the fairway.
Unfortunately his provisional ball was now the one in play. He hacked out to the edge of the fairway, missed the green with his fifth, chipped on and two putted for a quadruple-bogey eight.
Undaunted, he produced a scintillating back nine, coming home in five under the card to be standing at one under for the tournament.
Yesterday the quality of his golf was no less assured, shooting a four-under 68 with five birdies and just a single bogey. But for that bizarre incident on the Thursday at the eighth hole, Lonard would be a couple of shots, at worst, out of the lead held by David Lynn at 10 under par. The affable Aussie demonstrated tremendous grace in response to the cock-up.
"It's the strangest thing that's ever happened to me in golf. I don't blame anyone only myself. It's my responsibility to look after my own ball."
The Nissan Irish Open represents his last tournament in Europe before he returns to compete in the United States.
His decision last season to play on the US Tour while competing in the mandatory 11 tournaments to retain his European Tour card rankled with a couple of players who felt he was depriving someone of a card.
On learning of the mutterings of some outside the 115-place cut-off, Lonard bristled: "It got me really annoyed. The fact someone complained really got up my nose. If they spent more time practising they wouldn't have to worry about getting a card.
"There are two ways of looking at this - either I'm supporting the European Tour or those guys complaining and struggling should take a look at themselves."
Lonard thrived in his rookie season (2002) in America, finishing third behind Ernie Els at the Genuity Challenge, picking up two more top-10 finishes and ending up in 41st place on the money list with $1,413,113.
This year he has consolidated that form Stateside, losing in the semi-final of the Matchplay at La Costa and finishing tied for ninth place at the Byron Nelson Championship.
Lonard has shown great character, not just on the golf course, since turning professional in 1989. Three times (1990, 1991, 1992) he successfully negotiated the European Tour qualifying school and recovered from an 18-month absence in the 1993-1994 season during which he contracted Ross River Fever, a mosquito-carried virus that caused damage to his eyes.
He also missed a large part of 2000 - during which he had laser treatment on his eyes - because of a broken bone in his wrist. It would be a remarkable achievement were he to prevail at Portmarnock over the weekend and the hope is that he doesn't miss out on the top prize by just a shot or two.
That would be considered rough justice.
