During the presentation ceremony for the Dubai Desert Classic in 1990, Des Smyth observed Ireland would have had a clean sweep of the leading positions, but for the interference of "some bloody Spaniard". Whereupon Seve Ballesteros, in mischievous mood, piped up: "It was me; it was me."
On that occasion, Eamonn Darcy won the tournament, David Feherty was runner-up and Smyth shared third place with the "bloody" Spaniard. It had been as close as an Irish trio had come to complete dominance of a European event since the Dunlop Masters at Portmarnock in 1959, when Christy O'Connor was followed home by Joe Carr and Norman Drew in a share of second place. Mind you, Montecastillo last Sunday was close, with Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley finishing first and second, while Darren Clarke shared fourth place.
In terms of world ranking, the leading pair had come a long way since November 23rd, 1997 at Kiawah Island. That was when their triumph in the World Cup prompted the local Post and Courier to salute the "pluck" of the Irish. The newspaper observed: "Unlike several of the other countries atop the leaderboard at the end of the 43rd World Cup of Golf, Ireland's Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington stood side-by-side through the week, neither outshining the other in the two-man team event." In a way, the Volvo Masters was a thrilling interlude before they recaptured the Kiawah mood for this weekend's World Cup challenge in Japan.
