With wild, chilling winds whipping in from the North Sea yesterday, it was as if the Old Course was saving some rather special October conditions for the swan-song of the Alfred Dunhill Cup. And from an Irish standpoint, the challenge was further heightened by a draw in Group Two against South Africa, New Zealand and France.

The opening matches for the Irish today are against New Zealand, with Paul McGinley in the anchor position against Michael Campbell. It is the first meeting between the countries at this level since 1994 when the antipodeans beat Darren Clarke, McGinley and Philip Walton by 2-1 on the opening day.

Meanwhile, an ill-wind seemed to blow some good for the host country insofar as top-seeds Scotland are in Group One with Wales, Germany and England, which prompted Colin Montgomerie, with memories of defeats by Paraguay and India, to remark acidly: "I'm glad I'm not doing my golfing ambassadorship with Third World countries. I seem to do particularly poorly against them."

And, in real terms, the wind was positively embraced by John Daly, whose presence in the American team along with Larry Mize, reflects a overall decline in their attitude to the event, from the appearance of Tiger Woods two years ago.

"I think the course pretty much suits my game, especially when the weather is bad, because it rewards horrible shots which I seem to hit a lot," said the self-deprecating Daly who, incidentally, is ranked 424th in the world. "I've always played this course when it's cold and windy, so it's looking pretty good for me right now."

An official announcement about the future of the tournament is expected to come at the weekend. In this context, there may be some relevance to a celebratory firework display at 8.15 p.m. on Saturday evening - weather permitting, naturally.

But, as far as the Scottish media are concerned, the corpse of the Dunhill Cup has already been laid out. Only the obsequies remain. It is expected to be replaced next year by a Pebble Beach-style celebrity proam to be played over the Old Course, Carnoustie and the new, high-profile Kingsbarns links about two miles from St Andrews.

Des Smyth, a delighted replacement for Clarke, has been honoured with the captaincy of the Irish side to mark his return to action after an absence of 12 years. Indeed this will be his first time to play the Old Course since the British Open of 1990, as he failed to get through the final qualifying stage in 1995 and this year.

"Obviously I've got some wonderful memories of this place, especially with regard to our win in 1988," he said. "I'm delighted to be leading the team and you can take it that we'll be really determined to go out on a high note."

Interestingly, when the Irish triumphed on that occasion, they had to beat the US, England and Australia, in turn. By comparison, this week's task is much less intimidating, though in the absence of world number 11, Clarke, it was inevitable they would have two seeded teams in their group, which happen to be South Africa (4) and New Zealand (5).

With the New Zealanders having nominated the third pairing, Ireland opted to have Smyth face Greg Turner at the top of the order, so Harrington plays a resurgent Grant Waite at number two.

After some lean years on the US Tour, it will be recalled that Waite pushed Tiger Woods all the way in the Canadian Open last month, eventually forcing the world number one to play a miraculous, tournament-winning six-iron from a bunker and over water, on the treacherous 18th at Glen Abbey.

"We've got the worst group, which was inevitable in a way because we were going to be outside the seeds," said Harrington. "I've been in the Ireland team for the last five years and we never got out of the group stage. Now, we're facing our toughest year yet."

But the Dubliner was far from being despondent. "These are the sort of circumstances when special things happen. We've been fancied before and done nothing, now it would be really nice to win this one against the odds. And we just might do it.

All three of us are playing well and Des still remembers the winning feeling."

Scotland's Gary Orr, Andrew Coltart and Montgomerie are the highest-ranked trio in the tournament, but things don't always work out that way. Number two seeds, Argentina, look to have a stronger line-up in Eduardo Romero, Angel Cabrera and Jose Coceres, while South Africa's Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and David Frost are the same trio who triumphed in 1997 and 1998.

"Our approach to the event will be much the same as before," said Els. "We have always put up our strongest player, form-wise, against the opposition's top player and we'll be trying to do the same this week." And with the experienced Smyth at the helm, the Irish will be ready.