Many is the Monday when the in-box at Tour Headquarters is filled with requests for consolation polo shirts from Golf Masters managers who can't quite believe their team hasn't won a fourball at Druids Heath. They've had the winner of both tournaments, a bunch of players who have performed well and yet can't credit they've been trumped by another manager.

But in fact most weeks someone comes close to achieving the maximum total, and many of the leading teams have several players in common.

Well, that was not true this week. Ten teams featured both the Italian Open champion, Francesco Molinari, and the Wachovia Championship winner, Jim Furyk, but all missed out on top spot. There was also a huge gap between Diarmaid Mac Gabhann's winning total and what would have been achieved by a team of Furyk, Molinari, Trevor Immelman, Anders Hansen, Soren Kjeldsen, Philip Archer and Stephen Browne. That septet earned a463,000, which would have been our highest weekly score of the season so far and put their manager in line for a great day out on the Sunday of the Ryder Cup.

Remember, the manager of the team achieving the highest weekly total, excluding bonus money, gets two tickets to the international pavilion at the K Club. Conor Duane tops that table with the A307,888 earned by Scamp 1 in week two.

This week's counting tournaments are the British Masters (bonus money) and the Byron Nelson Classic.

golfmasters@irish-times.ie