For a country steeped in golfing tradition, the audacious act stirred its very heartstrings. When Christy O'Connor and Harry Bradshaw touched down in Shannon, on a flight from Mexico via New York, after their win in the World Cup - then known as the Canada Cup - the enormity of their achievement, and the reaction to it, really hit home. Television and newsreel floodlights illuminated the dull November morning, and hundreds of supporters were there to greet them.

The victory by "Himself" and "The Brad" is recognised as the catalyst which popularised golf in Ireland. And the reception was compared to the one which Ronnie Delany received on his homecoming from the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. In fact, when O'Connor travelled on to Killarney, where he was club professional, he was accorded a torchlit possession, just like a king reclaiming his throne.

Yet, O'Connor and Bradshaw - who finished three shots clear of Spain in the two-man team at Club de Golf - weren't allowed to bring the actual cup home. The tournament organisers deemed the silverware "too valuable" and "too delicate". The Irish players even offered to pay the £100 in excess baggage that carrying the trophy would entail, but still the promoters refused.

It didn't stop the Irish celebrations. Later, O'Connor and Bradshaw would recall that they felt something really special was in the offing as they made the long journey to Mexico. They arrived a day later than planned, in fact, and one of the local golf federation officials greeted them at the airport with the words "We thought you weren't coming". Bradshaw replied: "In Ireland we have a very old saying, `The last shall be first'."

Because of their late arrival, the two had time only for 27 holes practise. In contrast, the Americans, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, had been there for over a week. On the evening before the Canada Cup started, O'Connor and Bradshaw attended a banquet. Seated at their table were Hogan and Snead, Frank Phillips and Kel Nagle of Australia and Gary Player and Harold Henning of South Africa.

When the banquet was over, and they were heading for bed, Bradshaw turned to O'Connor. "The winners of the Canada Cup were at our table," he said. "You're telling me," O'Connor replied. Years later, Bradshaw revealed that he had his mind fixed on Hogan and Snead, but that he sensed O'Connor meant they themselves could do it.

In those days, there was no such thing as a course planner. However, the previous year, Dr JD McCormack, a famous Irish amateur, had played the course and related it as being like Hermitage. His advice to The Brad was to use a shooting stick, eat very little and talk very little. Bradshaw's advice to O'Connor was, simply, to eat very little. "It obviously worked," Bradshaw would often quip.

At the halfway stage, Ireland were on 286, two strokes clear of the favourites, Hogan and Snead. The entire complexion of the event changed prior to the third round, however. An hour before his scheduled tee-off time, Snead took a few practice swings and told the organisers: "I can't make it." He'd aggravated a back injury sustained in Hawaii the previous week and had to withdraw.

Although putting had been a problem for Christy throughout the tournament, he stayed solid for the final two rounds and had a personal aggregate of 293. "O'Connor backed up Bradshaw wonderfully," wrote Peter Alliss in the Daily Express afterwards. The O'Connor-Bradshaw partnership had three shots to spare over the Spanish pairing of Angel and Sebastian Miguel.

But O'Connor would gladly have exchanged his finishing hole score with his great friend The Brad. On that 72nd hole, O'Connor recorded a par four, but Bradshaw drove into rough and took a bogey five, for 286, thereby going into a play-off with Angel Martin for the individual title. He lost out at the third hole of sudden death.

O'Connor and Bradshaw received £357 each for winning the team event, and Bradshaw picked up another £187 as runner-up in the individual. Yet, even more rewarding than the monetary matter was the manner in which they were greeted and subsequently feted on landing back in Ireland.