Tiger Woods received a thrashing on the golf course yesterday, from a man more used to winning horse races. It happened in a challenge match played in gale-force winds at Limerick Golf Club, where financier J P McManus beat the world number one by no less a margin than 5 and 4.

There seemed to have been something of a conspiracy to slay the Tiger a week before he defends the British Open at Royal Lytham, insofar as his close friend, Mark O'Meara, caddied for the opposition. The man on Woods's bag was resident professional, Lee Harrington.

"I got smoked today," admitted Woods afterwards, with one of those special smiles. "It's time for me to retire from hustle-golf and stick to championship golf in future." By way of marking the occasion, the host club presented Woods and O'Meara with scrolls of honorary life membership, following on a decision of the a.g.m. last December. It will be recalled that they played prominent roles in the J P McManus International Pro Am at Limerick GC 12 months ago, when £15 million was raised for charity.

For this particular visit, Woods arrived at Adare Manor from the US last Monday. And he didn't miss the opportunity offered by this splendid facility to sharpen his skills in preparation for Royal Lytham. In fact when four unwitting American visitors arrived on the practice ground there on Tuesday evening, they were stunned by the sight of Woods hitting shots.

But to yesterday's match: as one might expect from a man of McManus's renowned skill with figures, it had a decidedly complex format. And one which appeared to be heavily loaded in favour of the racehorse owner, provided he was not overawed by the skill of his opponent.

From his experience of the betting ring, the backgammon table and the world's money markets, McManus is not the type of man to succumb to a pressure situation, not even in front of a golfing audience which was limited to members of the host club and which grew to about 400. To their credit, they kept their distance from the combatants.

Normally in a match against a professional, an amateur would require a few bonus strokes on top of the normal handicap allowance. In fact an additional five or six shots wouldn't be an excessive requirement against a player of Tiger's quality. McManus, however, asked for no more than the 14 strokes which his handicap allowed him. But there was a catch, naturally.

They played a two-ball scramble, with a subtle difference. Whereas McManus could select the better of two drives before hitting two second shots, Woods had to play the worse of his two drives. And he also had to discard his best approach shot and his best pitch, being stuck with the inferior effort.

The arrangement became particularly nasty on the putting green. For instance, if the world number one holed a 10-foot putt, it would count only if he holed it a second time, thereby choosing his worse shot.

McManus, meanwhile, clearly revelled in the challenge. In fact according to a Limerick member who knows his game, the bould J P played well up to his best form. And under the rather perverse scoring arrangement, Woods had no chance of matching the sort of cards he did on the course 12 months ago, when he had rounds of 64 and 68. As for the wager on the match - and it's impossible to think they wouldn't have had a little interest - nobody was saying. But there may have been an additional strokeplay bet, given that they went on to complete the 18 holes.

So, how would yesterday's achievement by McManus compare with that of the newly-crowned Smurfit European Open champion, Darren Clarke, the last player that we know of to defeat Woods in matchplay combat? Well, for a start, it took Clarke 33 holes to beat Woods by 4 and 3 at La Costa, whereas the 14-handicapper achieved a greater winning margin over 14 holes.

Clarke had the problem, however, of playing to the format set down by the organisers of the World Matchplay at La Costa: McManus could devise an arrangement very much to his own advantage. And in mathematical and monetary matters, his handicap would be very much in the plus category.

So it was that the so-called Sundance Kid outsmarted the Tiger. And at the end of it all, Woods and O'Meara graciously thanked the host club for their hospitality and wondered, no doubt, what next lay in store for them in a land dear to their hearts.