It's not over yet

We could have sworn we heard a portly woman crooning loudly when Tiger Woods hit that six iron from a fairway bunker, over the water and right at the flag on the 18th, to win the Canadian Open by one stroke on Sunday evening. "That's it, it's all over," we reckoned, assuming Colin Rutherford (one of 3,866 managers to employ Woods) was home and dry, all set to be crowned as our 2000 Golf Masters' champion.

But then, when the figures from week 28's tournaments were added up, there was a loud chorus of "hold your horses" from HQ's engine room. "That chubby woman ain't singing yet - take a look at Michael Daly," our mathematicians advised. So we did. And then we Tipp-Exed Colin's name from that £15,000 cheque, just in case.

Last week Michael was down in sixth place on the overall leaderboard, over £100,000 behind Colin, and as one of the many managers to have transferred Woods out of their teams, when they thought he was finished for the Golf Masters' season, we didn't fancy his chances of making next week's prize-giving ceremony.

The thing is, though, while many swapped Tiger for Colin Montgomerie Michael took a shine to Thomas Bjorn, impressed by the Dane's performances in this year's majors, and brought him in to his line-up for the final run-in. So, while our Terenure manager missed out on Tiger's less-than-surprising Canadian triumph his new recruit has more than made up for it, earning him £114,000 in the last fortnight.

Add in Niclas Fasth's £74,000 winnings in the same period (a final round 64 at last weekend's European Masters gave him a fourth place finish) and before you could say "isn't it gas the way the Golf Masters always goes down to the final week" the Golf Masters is going down to the final week.

Granted, Michael's Pins and Needles are still a not-to-be-sniffed-at £90,327 behind Colin's Glenmore Eagles 2 but - and it's a BIG but - he has all seven of his players in action this week - Colin has six.

Four of them - Darren Clarke, Steve Flesch, Nick O'Hern and Mark Brooks - are also employed by Colin so don't count in Michael's battle with our leader but he has the in-form Bjorn and Fasth in the Lancome Trophy field (versus Colin's Fredrik Jacobson and Raymond Russell) and Kirk Triplett in the Pennsylvania Classic.

So, it comes down to this simple equation - if Fasth, Bjorn and Triplett win £90,327 more than Jacobsen and Russell this week Michael will very probably win the 2000 Golf Masters. As ever, we cover ourselves by mentioning the slim possibility of an outsider having one of those weeks (winning, say, £400,000 plus) that might just see them leapfrog over all above them. Unlikely, but it can't be ruled out.

"I know my three are in good form but still, £90,000 is a fair lead," said Michael, who's hopeful, but not hugely confident, about his chances. "Having all seven of my team playing certainly keeps me alive and, at the very least, gives me a good chance of holding on to second, but we'll see what happens. Russell has been in good form recently and could do enough for Colin. I'll try not to get terribly worked up about it, although you never know later in the week, it might be difficult to stay calm."

Meanwhile, up in Lisburn. How are the nerves, Colin? "Very bad," said the man who's been leading the competition for the past two months but admits he can't take much more of this pressure. Just as well it's over this week.

"I'll be watching every ball being hit. Actually, I've been watching every ball being hit in both competitions - Europe and America - for these last five or six weeks. It's not easy being the one to catch, you know. It's very nerve wracking, lots of sleepless nights. This weekend? I don't really want to think about it, to be honest."

See right for "who has who" in action this week but, barring an odd miracle or two, we can't see beyond our Lisburn and Terenure managers. If it all goes down to Kirk Triplett's final round in Pennsylvania we'd worry for the health of both of them. Good luck to all - and hang on in there.