When millionaire golfers Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood were relaxing in New York between recent tournaments in the US, a serious if modest wager was struck.
The Ryder Cup partners and tournament rivals bet £1 on finishing higher than each other in the Order of Merit at the end of the year. At this stage, Clarke has the edge.
The Tyroneman regained top spot by finishing third in Switzerland last Sunday and expects to widen the gap in Paris this week when he, Paul McGinley and Des Smyth form the Irish challenge in the Lancome tournament. Two weeks later, he and Padraig Harrington will form a twin Irish challenge in the Cisco World Matchplay tournament at Wentworth on October 5th to 8th.
They will be going their separate ways a week later, however, when the Dunhill Cup fills its customary slot at St Andrews. The absence of Clarke for the first time since his debut in the event in 1994, will mean a surprise recall for Smyth after a lapse of 12 years.
By filling 105th place in the Order of Merit after the events of Sunday, August 27th, Smyth qualifies as the third member of the side with Harrington and McGinley.
As it happens Harrington is bypassing the Lancome. And because of their anticipated Wentworth commitment, he and Clarke will be missing from the Smurfit Irish Professional Championship at Baltray.
It will be recalled that Clarke was the early pace-setter at The Island last year, after being overlooked for a place in the Matchplay field. Having captured the Andersen Consulting Championship at La Costa last February, however, he is now keen to complete a unique, world matchplay double.
But there is a proviso. With his wife Heather expecting their second child on October 4th, he insisted: "I have told the Wentworth tournament organisers that I will play, only if they permit me to make a late withdrawal, if necessary. Obviously it's a very convenient tournament for me, given that I live just down the road."
He went on: "I'm sorry to be missing the Dunhill Cup, but something has to give. I've got a busy end-of-season schedule after that." Clearly, there will be no complaint from Smyth whose last appearance in the event was as a member of the triumphant Irish team in 1988.
Meanwhile, Harrington is hoping that his ill-luck of the last four months is at an end. "I've had a terrible time since the card-signing business at The Belfry back in May," he said. "When I began to get a few good results behind me, I was hit by neck and shoulder problems."
It speaks volumes for his resilience that with everything that's happened, he is still 34th in the current world rankings. And while taking a welcome week's break, he feels fairly confident that his injury problems are at an end.
"I've been told that there shouldn't be a recurrence, provided I do certain shoulder exercises," he said. "In fact I feel 95 per cent fit at the moment and I'm confident I can go ahead from here." By that he meant a commitment to four successive weeks, starting in next week's Belgacom Open.
"I suppose if I were realistic about it, I'm actually having a good season," he went on. "My main targets were the four majors and with all that's happened, I can't be unhappy with finishes of 19th in the Masters, fifth in the US Open, 20th in the British Open and 58th in the USPGA."
It was certainly a marvellous achievement to have made the cut at Valhalla, given that on his only previous appearance in the USPGA, at Winged Foot in 1997, he missed out on the weekend's play - when fully fit.
After Europe's two end-of-season tournaments in Spain in November, Harrington will probably return to Japan for the Casio Tournament before heading on to Argentina for the World Cup in partnership with McGinley on December 7th to 10th.
As for 2001: he has already planned to start the year with the Andersen Consulting Matchplay in Australia and then take a seven-week break. And then the battle to retain his Ryder Cup place will begin in earnest.
