The demons weren't exactly exorcised but, rather that the wailing and cries of anguish that traditionally accompany Irish challenges on the final day of an Irish Open, yesterday brought hints of what it would be like if, some day and somehow, one of them did manage to go all the way.
On the 200 yards circuitous walk from the 18th green to the recorder's hut, Padraig Harrington was acclaimed by the masses as if he had actually won the darn thing. So too was Darren Clarke. In fact, they had produced a late - and exhilarating - charge that fell some five shots short of actually overcoming Colin Montgomerie.
But their reward for producing a brace of final round 64s was a share of second place that constituted the best Irish performance since Philip Walton's runners-up position behind Ian Woosnam at Portmarnock in 1989.
"I've run into second," remarked Harrington, in recognition of the fact that he didn't seriously threaten to overtake Monty. Yet, for a player who had started the tournament expressing mild concern about his ability to actually play because of a wrist injury, the finish was almost - but not quite - as good as actual victory.
For Clarke, too, there was considerable satisfaction. In recent weeks, he had wondered if patience really was a virtue as he seemed to be getting no tangible rewards for his perseverance.
However, during the tournament, he switched psychologists from Bob Rotella, who is based in the United States and, consequently, difficult to meet on a regular basis, to Belgian Jos Vanstiphout, the man who steered Retief Goosen to US Open success.
The result was that Clarke produced the best golf of any player over the weekend, moving from the cut mark of level par to a 13-under-par total of 271 after rounds of 65 and 64. "The time spent with Jos has been very beneficial.
The fact it has been almost instantaneous is down to me. I am either up there or down here, there is very little in between," conceded Clarke, adding: "As I have said for the past few weeks, my game has been good but I just haven't been able to score. My actual ball striking is good, as is my ball flight, and things are going in the right direction."
Yesterday, he hit what he considered two poor shots; and most of what he did was really good. His round featured eight birdies - and a sole bogey, at the seventh where he was bunkered off the tee - and an indication of his approach work was that the longest birdie putt was a 15-footer at the third.
"The crowds were fantastic. I had goose bumps coming down the last with everybody shouting as if I was going to win.
" I haven't experienced such a reception since the British Open at Troon (in 1997, when he finished second) and, hopefully, at some stage in the future, I will have the chance to win here."
Harrington, meanwhile, confessed that he had too many thoughts in his head over the front nine where he managed to find only two fairways.
"I was a bit out of sorts early on. I was looking for something in my swing but, on the back nine, I decided to ignore the lot and just get on with it."
It worked nicely, as he included five birdies on the homeward run to cover that stretch in 30 strokes and jump into a three-way tie for second - along with Clarke and Niclas Fasth - that earned each of them 119, 310 and moved him into pole position in the European Ryder Cup qualifying table.
Described later by Montgomerie as "the most improved golfer in the world in the past two or three years," Harrington took an aggressive approach that reaped dividends with a blemish free round that included a hat-trick of birdies from the 14th that really got the crowd going.
For Paul McGinley, though, the final round proved to be extremely disappointing. On a day when most players took advantage of the conditions, he struggled to a 74 that meant he plunged down the field to tied-48th and slipped back to 11th in the Ryder Cup table.
