MEAN, miserable conditions' made patience a priceless commodity in the Benson and Hedges sponsored Links Society Outing at Royal Dublin yesterday. Significantly, Portmarnock professional Joey Purcell avoided serious error until the last hole, when capturing the major, nett award with a one over par 73, admirable scoring in the conditions.

As it happened, Purcell also scored well enough to have claimed the gross prize, but this went to Paul McGinley with a 74 that could have been appreciably better. Fellow European Tour player, Philip Walton, was reasonably positioned after a level par outward journey but he, too, suffered on the homeward journey.

A very tidy short game held the key to Purcell's success in circumstances in which a strong cross wind from the sea made it inevitable that greens would be missed. In the event, he recovered from a three putt bogey at the first to birdie the second and seventh for an outward 34 - one under par.

Three further birdies - he had five in all - compensated for dropped shots at the long 11th, where he took four to reach the new green, the 13th where he was short in two and the 15th which he three putted. So, he was one under playing the last, where he paid a heavy price for a pulled, drive.

In attempting to lay up with a seven iron, he found a very poor lie on the side of a mound from where it took him two more to reach the green. Two putts from 20 feet led to a double bogey six. "I wasn't too disappointed with the way I finished because I knew I had played most of the difficult holes well," said Purcell afterwards.

Birdies at the second, fifth and eighth brought McGinley to the turn in 32 but he spoiled the makings of an exceptional score by hitting a five wood second shot out of bounds at the 10th. In fact he dropped a total of five strokes over the opening five holes of the homeward journey. "It could have been a great round," he said ruefully.