Sergio Garcia looked on as the two gripped each other's hands, and the handshake exchanged between the two men from different cultures - men whose golfing destinies had been shaped on different continents - was entirely genuine.
In truth, both Jeev Milka Singh, who won the Volvo Masters, and Padraig Harrington, who won the European Tour's Order of Merit, were winners; and, if both players felt that theirs was the main plot on a day of drama in the final event of the 2006 season, the reality was that their stories were intertwined.
Singh, the son of one of India's greatest international sportsmen - the Olympian Milka Singh, aka The Flying Sikh - claimed the biggest victory of an injury-hit career when posting a final-round 72 for 282, two under, which gave him a one-stroke victory over a trio of players who all, a month ago, had formed part of Europe's winning team in the Ryder Cup.
Yet, for the three men in second place, the emotions were varied. Harrington's second-place finish came after a final-round 69 that put him on the same 284 mark as Sergio Garcia, who bogeyed his 72nd hole, and Luke Donald.
Of the three, Harrington, who had shown typical resilience down the stretch, had most to celebrate, as his runner-up finish - the 30th of his career and his fourth this season - catapulted him above England's Paul Casey in the Order of Merit.
This was one time that second place was truly sweet.
On a day when a tricky wind swept across the Valderrama course, Singh, who had started out as 54-hole leader, had shown tremendous composure over the front nine, not dropping a shot, and then overcame a couple of back-to-back bogeys at the 12th and 13th on the home stretch, at a time when his playing partner, Johan Edfors, was encountering all sorts of trouble, to seal the tournament victory.
For Singh, the defining shot of his success came on the 17th, a par five that has broken many hearts down the years. There, while Edfors rummaged in the bushes to the right of the fairway in search of his ball, Singh was left waiting in the middle of the fairway contemplating one of the toughest shots in golf. The Indian had hit a massive drive.
"One of my best of the week," he agreed. With 205 yards to the flag, Singh hit a six-iron approach that finished 12 feet from the cup.
Although he missed the eagle putt, Singh tapped in for a birdie that was to be decisive because, almost simultaneously, Garcia, his principal challenger, was in trouble on the 18th and about to drop a shot.
For Harrington, watching developments on television in the players' lounge, Garcia's final-hole problems were to have an importance of their own.
Garcia had split the fairway on the 18th but knew he probably needed a birdie to catch Singh.
"I did a bad swing at the wrong time," observed Garcia of his five-iron approach, which was pushed right into a greenside bunker.
Garcia is normally a good bunker player, but his recovery shot was a poor one. He left himself with a 30-foot putt for par, which he failed to make.
"I'm disappointed. I had a good chance (to win) but what can I do? These things happen. You have to accept it and keep going," he remarked.
The effect of that missed putt for par was twofold. In terms of the tournament, it gave Singh a two-shot cushion playing the last, and though he bogeyed the hole, it was sufficient to give him the victory.
The other consequence was that Garcia's bogey dropped him back to a share of second with Donald and, more importantly, Harrington. What it meant was that Harrington won enough prizemoney to move ahead of Casey, who had finished with a 69 for tied-21st, in the European Tour money list.
Harrington had started out with two bogeys on the first two holes. Thereafter, his was a masterclass in scrambling as he got up and down from rough on the fourth (for birdie), the fifth (for par) and the seventh (for par). By the time he reached the turn, Harrington's chances of earning enough money to move above Casey looked slim, requiring as it would a first or second-place finish.
But the Dubliner grabbed birdies on the 11th, 14th and 16th - where he had three-putted on Saturday - and suddenly the holy grail was there for the taking.
Harrington made superb par saves on the 17th, where he put his four-iron approach into the water, the movement from right to left attributed to mud on the ball. But he successfully got up and down. And, then, after pulling his drive on the 18th into trees, he again showed his capacity to salvage par with a chip from wet rough.
It was, as he later confessed, "vintage Harrington".
For Singh, the win marked the high point of a career hampered by injury. A product of the US collegiate system, Singh won the Volvo China Open earlier this season but had only ever seen Valderrama on television. His first visit proved to be a memorable one.
"It's the biggest win of my career; it will stay with me for the rest of my life," he said.
(Irish in bold, British unless stated)
282 - Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 71 71 68 72.
283 - Luke Donald (Britain) 69 71 74 69; Sergio Garcia (Spain) 71 70 70 72; Padraig Harrington 73 69 72 69.
284 - Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 67 75 71 71; David Howell (Britain) 70 73 70 71.
285 - Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 74 71 71 69; Lee Westwood (Britain) 69 70 72 74.
286 - Philip Archer (Britain) 69 71 77 69; Raphael Jacquelin (France) 71 73 69 73; Jose Manuel Lara (Spain) 66 76 77 67; David Lynn (Britain) 69 71 72 74; Peter O'Malley (Australia) 70 78 66 72; Gary Orr (Britain) 72 74 72 68; Ian Poulter (Britain) 70 75 70 71; Marcel Siem (Germany) 69 72 72 73; Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 70 68 73 75.
287 - Anders Hansen (Denmark) 72 72 72 71; Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) 73 75 68 71; Paul McGinley 73 72 70 72.
288 - John Bickerton (Britain) 71 71 70 76; Paul Casey (Britain) 76 72 71 69; Johan Edfors (Sweden) 68 74 69 77; Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 75 75 69 69; Soren Hansen (Denmark) 71 72 73 72; Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 68 74 72 74; Robert Karlsson (Sweden) 69 74 70 75.
289 - Paul Broadhurst (Britain) 73 74 71 71; Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 71 71 72 75; Richard Green (Australia) 67 73 74 75; Colin Montgomerie (Britain) 77 73 69 70.
290 - Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 79 71 71 69; Graeme McDowell (NI) 67 78 74 71; Jarmo Sandelin (Sweden) 70 73 72 75.
291 - Simon Dyson (Britain) 73 69 74 75; Kenneth Ferrie (Britain) 77 69 73 72; Anthony Wall (Britain) 71 77 69 74.
292 -Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 78 72 72 70 Simon Khan (Britain) 74 70 72 76 Simon Wakefield (Britain) 69 76 75 72.
294 - Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 74 73 75 72; Marc Warren (Britain) 74 74 71 75.
295 - Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina) 71 78 74 72; Peter Hanson (Sweden) 74 75 72 74.
296 - Markus Brier (Austria) 73 74 73 76; Nick Dougherty (Britain) 77 76 71 72; Graeme Storm (Britain) 72 79 76 69.
297 - Damien McGrane 76 76 74 71
298 - Francesco Molinari (Italy) 81 70 73 74.
299 - Stephen Dodd (Britain) 80 76 70 73; Bradley Dredge (Britain) 77 75 73 74.
300 - Emanuele Canonica (Italy) 76 75 78 71.
302 - Brett Rumford (Australia) 73 79 75 75.
309 - Andres Romero (Argentina) 78 79 78 74.
EUROPEAN ORDER OF MERIT
Leading standings
1. Padraig Harrington (Ireland) €2,489,337
2. Paul Casey (Britain) €2,454,084
3. David Howell (Britain) €2,321,166
4. Robert Karlsson (Sweden) €2,044,936
5. Ernie Els (South Africa) €1,716,208
6. Henrik Stenson (Sweden) €1,709,359
7. Luke Donald (Britain) €1,658,060
8. Ian Poulter (Britain) €1,589,074
9. Colin Montgomerie (Britain) €1,534,748
10. Johan Edfors (Sweden) €1,505,583
11. Sergio Garcia (Spain) €1,456,752
12. Retief Goosen (S Africa) €1,367,399
13. Anthony Wall (Britain) €1,303,231
