Serious punch-ups have been started for less. While passing each other on the way to and from interview sessions here yesterday, the following exchange took place between rival captains Seve Ballesteros and Tom Kite.

Ballesteros: "Sleep well, Tom?" Kite: "Five or six hours, when I eventually settled down." "That's more than me - I had only four hours."

Kite: "Carmen (Seve's wife) walked past our bedroom window at about midnight. I think she was scouting." Ballesteros: "I think she had lost her way at that time." After mutual smiles, they went their separate ways - the captains, that is.