On being asked the price, Christy O'Connor Jnr was prepared to concede only that it didn't come cheaply. But whatever he paid for the ring - and the rumoured figure is $2,000 - it has increased in value more than ten-fold, as a result of diligent research by an American golfing scribe.

Earlier this year, during his activities on the US Seniors' Tour, O'Connor bought a rather attractive ring from American collector Byron Eder, of Spring Hill, Florida. The connection came about through the Galwayman's contract with Orlimar clubs, which Eder happens to represent.

There was no way of proving the ring's authenticity - until Dick Mudry of Golfweek got hooked on the story.

Through painstaking research, Mudry made a stunning discovery, with the help of Bill Shake and Ray Coleman, former salesman in the Ben Hogan company. Both claimed to have been present when Hogan was presented with the ring at a function in 1983 to mark the 30th anniversary of his three "major" wins of 1953. And Shake has a photograph to prove it.

He explained: "A ring was given to the management group, to each salesman and to each regional manager," said Shake, who now works for Spalding. "For the salesman of the year, the ring had a ruby, along with a diamond for each year he had reached his quota. I have no doubt the ring they gave Mr Hogan is the same one that Christy O'Connor has bought."

Coleman said: "I was national sales manager of the Ben Hogan company at the time and I designed the ring myself. It had 10 diamonds in it but I don't think he ever wore it except on that night." Given how precise he was about the game and the fact that he didn't wear a glove, Hogan may have felt that the ring would affect his grip.

In the event, a tradition started in the Hogan company in 1983 had disappeared within 10 years, according to Coleman. "At one stage, I remember seeing the 10-diamond ring in a display case at the company's headquarters in Fort Worth," he said. It is not known what happened to it from there.

The 10-carat gold ring contains the words "Pursuit of Excellence" around the stones. On the other side is the famous image of Hogan at impact. "Judging from what I was able to find out, there were probably less than a dozen of them made," said Eder. So, O'Connor is in possession of something very special.

"I have always had a great admiration for Ben Hogan," he said. "In fact not long before he died, I got a personal note from him through Bob Torrance." O'Connor went on: "I bought the ring in the belief that he had worn it and naturally I'm delighted this has now been confirmed. It's something I will always treasure."