SHOWDOWN TIME. When world number four Ernie Els, of South Africa, met with his colleagues Wayne Westner and Retief Goosen to decide which player he should face in today's decisive Group Three match in the Alfred Dunhill Cup at St Andrews, the consensus was that Irish captain Paul McGinley should be their nominated target.

"He's Ireland's in form player here," insisted former US Open champion Els. "All the Irish guys are playing well and we have got to go out and beat them. I played with Paul in the last round of the German Masters last week and he played really solid. He has been their star player this week, so the guys felt I should try to take him."

There is a lot to play for, with the winners guaranteed a place in the semi finals (most probably against Australia, who need to win just one match in their Group Four encounter with New Zealand today to progress) and a minimum payday, as group winners, of £31,666 each. Group runners up will get £15,000 apiece. Even richer pickings will be available for the finalists, with £100,000 per player to the eventual winners and £50,000 each to the beaten finalists.

"We know we are in for a tough battle with Ireland," insisted Els. "They are young and all playing well - we have our work cut out."

The South Africans opted to play Els against McGinley at number two. Ireland then decided to pit Darren Clarke, last week's German Masters winner, against Goosen, who has yet to win a match in the campaign, in the top encounter, with Harrington facing Westner.

"It has come down to a head to head, so at least we know exactly where we stand," said Harrington, who has a one hundred per cent record, so far, in his debut Dunhill Cup.

Interestingly, Ireland and South Africa appear very evenly matched: the two countries were a collective seven under par on day one, and a collective four over par yesterday. Something has to give today.