Philip Reid at Wentworth
On a miserable old autumnal day with the hint of winter's approach in the leafy suburbs of Virginia Water, Retief Goosen discovered that one way to fend off any prospect of unpleasantness was not to hang around in the damp too long. Which is exactly what Goosen - and, for that matter, his unfortunate opponent Jeff Maggert - managed to do in yesterday's weather-assaulted first round of the HBSC World Matchplay Championship.
Indeed, so comprehensive was Goosen's win, by a record margin of 12 and 11 which required the pair to contest just 25 of the scheduled 36 holes, that the South African had returned to his mansion in nearby Ascot long before any other players even got anywhere near the sanctuary of the elegant locker-rooms.
As things transpired, no other matches - with all morning starts delayed for two and a half hours because of heavy rain that saturated the West Course - managed to be completed, leaving 14 players to return this morning to finish their matches.
As for Maggert? Well, the likelihood is that he comfortably made his transatlantic flight from Heathrow and he would probably prefer if the memory of his debut in the event were consigned to history. That's unlikely to happen. Instead, it's more probable that he'll become the butt end of one of those horrible table quiz questions.
When Goosen and Maggert shook hands on their second visit of the day to the seventh green, where the winner fittingly finished off with a birdie, his 12th of the day, there was little to be said in way of comfort to his opponent.
"Jeff said, 'well played, keep playing well'," remarked Goosen. "I don't think he could say much. And I said to the guy, 'sorry, you know, you didn't play too well'."
Yet, in this game of golf, Goosen is only too aware that it is a fickle business and that he could be on the wrong end of such a result if the gods decreed it. So, there was little element of sorrow for his vanquished opponent. "I don't know if he would have felt sorry for me," observed Goosen. "You know he doesn't want to go out that way but I was determined to just keep playing well. You know how quickly it can turn in matchplay."
In Goosen's case, however, his grip was so tight, and his control has strong, that he inflicted the heaviest defeat on any player in the 41 years history of this head-to-head combat.
If Maggert laboured on the course and in the conditions (the American actually turned in five-over-par 40 on the front nine in the morning, at which stage he was five-down), his conqueror did produce some magnificent golf. Goosen went around in an estimated 65 in the first round, and registered a further four birdies in seven holes later in the ever-darkening day.
Was there a fear of complacency? "Yeah, in a way," responded Goosen. "You have to keep telling yourself to stay focused. You don't want your mind wandering away and let the guy in to win three, four holes in a row or something like that. Anyway, I felt I was going to win, it was just by how much."
At least Goosen had pocketed his win and made his way home before all the other players were brought to the inevitable prospect of having to return to complete their matches. Although, oddly enough, The Goose could confidently contemplate a second-round encounter with Lee Westwood who, after a ding-dong fight for much of the day with British Open champion Todd Hamilton, had moved into a three-hole lead after 29 holes. Westwood won three holes in succession from the ninth (their 27th) and the American was glad of a time out.
In the other matches, the potential for real shocks remained. And none more so than in the case of Europe's Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer who, incredibly, was two up on world number one Vijay Singh with 10 holes of their match remaining.
Level at lunchtime, the 47-year-old German, playing his first World Matchplay Championship since 1995, fired four birdies in quick succession to open up a three-hole advantage before Singh struck with a par at the eighth to retain hope of a second triumph in the tournament.
For much of the day, world number two Ernie Els, seeking a hat-trick of successive titles and his sixth in all, was also in much trouble against Scott Drummond. However, Els fought back impressively in the second series of play to overcome his one-hole deficit at the midway juncture and move into a two-hole lead by the time the pair reached the 16th green in fading light last evening.
But when Els's birdie putt to win the hole and the match lipped out, it was in some ways opportune. "Alright, that's it," remarked Els to the match referee, "I'm away home now." The putt had coincided with the tournament officials' decision to halt any further play and it so happened that Els's missed putt had occurred no more that 50 metres away from the home he owns on the Wentworth estate.