Ten years on, Philip Walton grinned with pleasure while re-living the climactic moments on the famous 17th hole at St Andrews. And how he stood on the fairway, directly behind David Feherty, as the final of the Dunhill Cup hung in the balance. And how he witnessed what he now describes at the greatest golf shot he has ever seen.

It was the third play-off hole between England's Howard Clark and the Irish skipper. First to hit, Clark chose a three-iron which hooked on the right-to-left wind to finish well wide of the notoriously shallow green. Indeed it was so much off line that Feherty thought it might have reached the Swilcan Burn.

Then it was the Ulsterman's turn. He, too, chose a three-iron for a shot of 199 yards. "As a more-than-interested spectator, I can remember seeing the position of the clubhead at the top of David's swing," said Walton. "In that instant, I knew he had loaded it perfectly."

Walton went on: "It is hard for the average golfer to imagine just how difficult it is to hit a high draw with a three-iron into that green. I stood there with my fingers crossed. It seemed like an eternity before we discovered that the ball had come to rest 18 feet from the pin. I have never, before or since, actually seen a shot of such quality."

It was a finale which wasn't supposed to happen, especially since Ireland had captured this coveted crown only two years previously. The view around the Old Course was that while Des Smyth, Ronan Rafferty and Eamonn Darcy had done their country proud in 1988, it was one of those achievements that come only once in a lifetime.

The team of 1990 clearly thought differently, even in the presence of the American trio of Curtis Strange, Mark Calcavecchia and Tom Kite, and a formidable Australian line-up comprising Greg Norman, Rodger Davis and an in-form Wayne Grady, who had captured the USPGA Championship only a few months previously.

Despite their optimism, the Irish build-up left much to be desired. After suggesting a fortnight previously that a heavy tournament schedule might force him to withdraw from the Dunhill Cup, Rafferty had what appeared to be a change of heart. In fact, his management group, IMG, who happened to be the organisers of the event, prevailed upon him to play. "I would like to emphasise that I am not indifferent about playing for my country," Rafferty insisted on the eve of battle. "But I have to consider my career - and that means playing in events that suit me. The Dunhill Cup has come at a time when I'm attempting to get into the top three in the Order of Merit to strengthen my chances of playing in the US Open and the USPGA Championship next season.

"When I suggested I might miss out on the Dunhill, people began to make a big thing of it. But there was no mention of the fact that Spain have a team here without Seve (Ballesteros) and Jose-Maria (Olazabal)."

Walton had no wish to re-hash the issue at this distance. But he remarked pointedly: "Let's say that David did a first-class job as captain." At the time, Feherty said: "I believe we have as good a chance as anybody. The three of us are all playing well at the moment, but this is a funny tournament: you've got to watch the outsiders."

It is highly unlikely that his remark reached the fancied teams. Had it done so, the Americans and Australians might have been a little sharper in their handling of unrated opponents in the opening round.

As it happened, Mark Farry beat Calcavecchia by 70-73 and French colleague Emmuel Dussart outscored a bemused Kite by 73-74. Indeed, the French went within a stroke of white-washing the Americans when a promising young player named Jean Van de Velde, in only his second full season on tour, halved 69-69 with no less a figure than Strange.

Later in the day, the Australians were to experience a similar barrage from fellow antipodeans. Through a remarkable coincidence, New Zealand's Frank Nobilo, in the top match, inflicted exactly the same scoring indignity of 67-76 on Norman, that Nick Faldo had administered in the third round of the British Open earlier that year at the same venue.

Worse was to follow when Grady slipped to a 78 against Simon Owen. All of which stripped any significance from a fine 66 by Davis in the anchor position.

As we suspected, vive la outsiders became a short-lived battle-cry as the French departed the scene the following day, losing 3-0 to a moderate Japanese side.

Meanwhile, Ireland survived the opening round against Korea, with Rafferty (70), Walton (71) and Feherty (69), all winning their matches. Ireland's second-round victims were Spain. In difficult conditions, Feherty scraped through in the top match against Miguel Angel Jimenez by 76 to 77, and Walton shot an admirable 70 in the anchor position to beat Jose Rivero by no fewer than 12 strokes. In the middle, however, Rafferty lost to the seasoned Jose-Maria Canizares by 71-70.

In the semi-finals on the Saturday, the Irish trio produced their best figures of the tournament so far in a 2 1/2 to 1/2 win over New Zealand. Shooting 70 for a second successive day to be five under par for his 54 holes, Walton beat Owen by one stroke; Rafferty's 68 was good enough only for a halved match with Nobilo at number two, but another 68 from Feherty in the anchor position earned him a one-stroke win over Greg Turner.

Meanwhile, England's team of Clark, Mark James and Richard Boxall each shot 70 for a 2-1 semi-final win over Japan. The Ryder Cup partners of 1989 were proving to be predictably strong competitors, though Boxall appeared vulnerable.

SO it proved to be in the final which, under the format of the time, was over 36 holes on the Sunday, with one round in the morning and another in the afternoon effectively making up six separate matches. As it happened, the sides were level at lunchtime with the scores: Walton 72, James 72; Rafferty 71, Boxall 73; Feherty 74, Clark 73.

Stalemate still obtained by the end of the afternoon season when the scores were: Walton 77, James 76; Rafferty 71, Boxall 77; Feherty 75, Clark 75.

"James was tough, but I should have beaten him," recalled Walton. "If I hadn't double-bogeyed the 10th in the afternoon, when I drove into that pot bunker on the right and took two to get out, there would have been no need for a play-off. They were the two strokes which eventually made the difference between me winning and losing."

He also recalled his own drama on the 17th, where his approach finished in the Road Hole Bunker while James was over the green, just short of the road. "It was Mark's turn but I went into the bunker to size-up my shot and then walked out of it again," he said. "The result was that Mark asked for a ruling so that he could rake the bunker in case his recovery overshot the green. And the referee agreed. Anyway, that was a silly thing for me to do."

Prior to Feherty's match, the approach by Ballesteros on his way to victory in the 1984 British Open stood apart among the great shots at the 17th. That was when the celebrated Spaniard hit a glorious six-iron of 210 yards from rough on the left into the heart of the green.

"I hit that three-iron to the extent of my ability," said Feherty. "From my position on the fairway, which was just about perfect, I had no option other than to go for the flag."

Then, regarding the pressure of the occasion, he added: "I never want to do that again. It is the enigma of golf - it is going to hurt if you are to do well."

Walton claimed at the time that he had never known pressure like it. But by his own admission, that was before he experienced the ultimate, as a key member of the victorious Ryder Cup team five years later.

As a strange postscript to their triumph, Feherty has since quit competitive golf for the role of commentator with the CBS network; Rafferty has been struggling with his game since sustaining a serious injury to his left thumb two years ago. And Walton faces another return to the Tour School, having missed out last year.

"I like David commentating," said Walton. "In fact I think he's every bit as good at it as he was a captain." And it is universally acknowledged that the standard set on that wonderful occasion at St Andrews in 1990, was very good indeed.