Pat Callanan probably won't thank us for this but, at the risk of putting temptation in fate's way, we're beginning to wonder - nay, suspect - if the golfing gods have ordained that the man from Portlaoise be California-bound come the end of the 2002 Golf Masters.
If he should find himself living it up for a week on the Monterey Peninsula, all expenses paid, he might consider dropping in to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on his way home to personally thank one Frederick Funk.
With two of Callanan's players taking time off last week, another missing the cut at the Wales Open and Vijay Singh finishing a lowly 43rd at the Buick Open it was, frankly, looking good for his pursuers on the overall leaderboard. But then Funk defied his skimpy transfer value of €0.5 million to take a share of second at the Buick, adding a not insignificant €66,250 to the account of Paddy's Fourth.
Bradley Dredge and Jay Haas didn't let the side down either, combining to bring in another €55,825 and stretching the team's lead over Michael Keegan's Postulators to €164,485, an increase of almost €34,000 on last week.
Indeed, so lucrative was Callanan's week you have to go down to 12th on the leaderboard to find a challenger who did any better, namely Roger Mullarkey, whose Razor Sharp outfit fell just short of the €200,000 earning mark in week 22.
Incidentally, Tim Morris: don't think we haven't spotted your Roll Ins inching their way through the field (up from ninth to sixth this week), like a thoroughbred immaculately timing its run. We're keeping a close eye on you. (For the uninitiated Morris was our Golf Masters champion last year but is still waiting to collect his first prize of a trip to the Ryder Cup because of its postponement).
If the contest between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson at the top of our highest earners' list is a tense and nervy one it's nothing compared to the cut-throat battle between Galway's Terry Howard and Dublin's Alan Murray, who are vying for the title of "Worst Manager of the Year". Howard's "Hackers" have a significant lead (almost €68,000) over Murray's "Splashers" as we speak, but the Splashers' recent dire form suggests to us that that lead is far from insurmountable.
The Hackers are the only team in the competition yet to break the €200,000 earning barrier while the Splashers are the only other line-up yet to pass the €250,000 mark - we at Golf Masters' HQ salute both managers for these quite extraordinary achievements.
At the other end of the scale, only two managers earned more than €250,000 in week 22 but regrettably for John Collins he was pipped to our weekly prize of a fourball at Carton House by Ronan O'Regan's "Roughnecks". John Bickerton was O'Regan's top scorer, finishing second at the fog, rain and lightning-interrupted Wales Open (aren't we lucky we don't have summers of that nature), followed by Funk, Esteban Toledo and Paul McGinley.
On we go to week 23. Double the regular prize money is on offer at the US PGA, while the North West of Ireland Open in Donegal will prove particularly profitable for managers with Philip Walton or David Higgins in their teams should either man triumph - remember, if one of the Irish players on our list wins a tournament on Irish soil he collects 400,000 Golf Masters' euros. Before this week's transfer deadline, which Irish player had Pat Callanan in his line-up? Philip Walton. California dreaming . . .?
