Earlier this week it looked as though the strain of adding up all those figures had finally taken its toll on one member of the Golf Masters' team. "SHAWIYA," he exclaimed when the weekly winner's name popped up on his computer screen. "No, Paul Maher," we replied.
"Yeah, Shawiya," he insisted. While we were measuring him up for a strait-jacket, he produced some yarn about Paul Maher being a renowned race-horse owner, who had won the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham with Shawiya. Win the Triumph Hurdle, a fourball in Mount Juliet AND a Golf Masters polo shirt? Nobody could be that lucky in life. So, as we zipped him up, we decided to put him out of his misery by ringing Paul Maher to get confirmation that he'd never heard of Shawiya. "Paul, one of our team is a horse-racing fan and he says your name is a bit familiar. Would he be right (huh)?" "Irish Grand National with Vanton and the Triumph Hurdle with Shawiya, same guy," said Paul. "Golf is my summer sport, horse racing is my winter sport - two marvellous hobbies," he added. "SHAWIYA," winked our gloating colleague as he swapped his strait jacket for the polo shirt he awarded himself.
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