Whatever about their accuracy, statistics were used to intriguing effect by the organisers of the £1 million Alfred Dunhill Cup, which gets under way here on the Old Course this morning. As a non-seeded country, Ireland have received a very difficult draw and are in the same group as South Africa, Scotland and Germany.
Even the Scots were amazed to be seeded sixth. The more devious among them suspected it might have something to do with Colin Montgomerie, skipper of the host country, being a leading client of Mark McCormack's International Management Group. IMG happen to run this event.
"We automatically assumed we would be seeded, but they never told us they were changing the rules," said Ireland's leading player, Darren Clarke, who was picked by the South Africans to face their key man, Ernie Els. "It means that there are effectively three seeded teams in our group."
The draw dominated a day on which Miguel-Angel Martin shot a level-par pro-am score of 72, in his first competitive round since rupturing his left wrist during the British Open three months ago. "My wrist is now 100 per cent," said Martin, who is back in the Spanish team for this event for the first time since 1994.
The 35-year-old, controversially ditched from Europe's Ryder Cup side, went on: "I have the wrist strapped, but I don't have to exercise it nor do I need any treatment. I watched the Ryder Cup on television at my home and I was happy Europe won. But that's in the past. I'm just glad to be 100 per cent." Up to now, seeding for this event was determined by the combined Sony World Rankings of a country's three team members. On that basis, Ireland would have combined total of 251, compared with 296 for England, who are seeded eighth, and 354 for Scotland, who are seeded seventh. Ireland's total is only marginally higher than the 246th place ranking of Gordon Brand Jnr, Scotland's third player.
Taking the leading two players from these countries, however, Scotland (Montgomerie and Raymond Russell) have a combined 108; England (Lee Westwood and Mark James) are 117 while Ireland (Clarke and Padraig Harrington) are 121. In the event, the upshot has been a formidable group which left South Africa captain Els at a loss for words. "This is the toughest bloody draw we could have got," he said. "For a start, we've got Ireland, who have three of the best players in Europe."
The reigning US Open champion obviously retains vivid memories of last year's critical group match on the Saturday, when South Africa were quite fortunate to scrape through to the semifinals. With Paul McGinley having beaten Els by 69 to 71, Retief Goosen birdied the 19th to beat Clarke in a play-off while Wayne Westner also birdied the 17th to edge clear of Harrington.
Nor did McGinley, the Irish skipper, need any reminders of that gripping encounter. It prompted him to remark yesterday: "We're due a bit of luck this time around." The newly-crowned Irish Professional champion added: "Irrespective of the draw, there are no easy teams."
Harrington, who has been named to meet David Frost while McGinley faces Goosen at number one, agreed with that assessment. When asked to explain how the team came to choose these pairings, as was their prerogative, he came up with an explanation reminiscent of the profound tactical decisions made at this level.
"We couldn't think of any reason why we shouldn't do it this way," he grinned. Which reminded me of Eamonn Darcy, skipper of the triumphant 1988 team, who when asked to outline his instructions to his players (Des Smyth and Ronan Rafferty), replied: "I told them to listen to me and then do their own thing."
The presence of Scotland in Group Three is rather disquieting for the fact they have won all four meetings with Ireland in this event, the last occasion being the 1995 semi-finals. But Ireland have never played Germany, who, in the absence of Bernhard Langer, look to be a moderate force.
So, what are Ireland's prospects, given that the three players each shot 70 in yesterday's pro-am? "There are plusses and minuses," said Harrington. "The most important aspect of the draw, as far as I'm concerned, is that we would not be meeting the Americans until the final. They are unquestionably the strongest team.
"That's why the seeding may work to our advantage. For instance, if we were seeded eighth, we could have found ourselves in Group One along with England and the Americans. As things stand, we've done well to be getting the South Africans on the first day. It looks like the conditions won't be pleasant and they won't have time to become acclimatised.
"The most important thing is that we play as a three-man team. You can't afford to carry a passenger at this level," concluded Harrington.
The US captured the trophy last year when Mark O'Meara, Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker beat New Zealand by 2-1 in the final. Their team to defend the title is arguably stronger, given that British Open champion Justin Leonard and fellow Ryder Cup player Brad Faxon have replaced Mickelson and Stricker.
Their opening match today is against unseeded Argentina.
