(By Dai Davies, The Observer)
All three are five under on 211 and all have important points to prove.
Casey, who needs good finishes to regain his place in the world's top 50, threw away the British Masters at The Belfry last week, and last year Bjorn, in the European Open at the nearby K Club, was leading on the 71st tee, put three balls in the water and took 11 - one of the most complete collapses in tournament history. Wall, only once a winner on tour, and that in 2000, needs to rediscover how to take titles. Darren Clarke, Peter Hedblom and 25-year-old Ross Fisher are all a stroke behind on four under, 212.
Casey, who is not averse to a bit of a punt now and then, took a gamble at the 10th hole of the final round last week that not only cost him more than ?230,000, but also the tournament. This week Casey is again a serious contender and he would be well advised to learn not just last week's lesson, but that of gamblers down the centuries - you just can't win. He has an ongoing bet with one of his coaches, Pete Kostis, who teaches in America. Kostis sets a target score for each round and if Casey wins, he gets a bottle of fine wine. If he loses, Kostis adds one to his cellar - and it is worth noting that the American has one of the finest collections in his country, and Casey, who lives in Arizona, hasn't.
In the British Masters Casey, three ahead of the field at the time, decided to try to drive the green of the par-four 10th, found water instead, took six and eventually had to settle for joint fifth and ?69,660, compared with the ?300,000 the winner Johan Edfors took away.
But those sums pale in comparison to those gambled away by a previous occupant of this week's venue, Carton House, which was home for centuries to some of Ireland's premier peers, the dukes of Leinster. Edward FitzGerald, the seventh, was an addicted gambler but, as the third son in line, did not expect to inherit.
Nevertheless, he settled one bet by signing away that which he thought would never be his - the whole estate - and when the fifth duke followed by Unsteady Eddie's older brother both died, he became the extremely broke and landless seventh duke. An English moneylender got it all, the house and 1,100 walled acres.
The Carton estate has now become two good golf courses - one designed by Colin Montgomerie, the other by Mark O'Meara. The tournament is being played on Monty's course, but the Scot will not be present to see how things eventually pan out. He missed the cut, which fell at four over, by one. That meant of his past nine events, Montgomerie has failed to play at the weekend in seven of them. That is hardly the form that Europe's self-appointed 'leader on the course' needs to be showing in the run-up to the Ryder Cup, which will be played at the K Club, five miles from here, in four months' time.
Form is transitory, of course, but this spell of Montgomerie's is the worst of his 20-year career and the worriers are beginning to wonder if this stalwart of seven Ryder Cups might have to go to Ian Woosnam and say: 'Sorry skipper, but I'm not playing well enough.'
Casey, with a five-birdie 68, when asked about his failed gamble last week admitted: 'I got a good talking to from Mr Kostis.'He did, though, confess himself to be 'very, very happy' with the way he was playing, while Darren Clarke, on four under, missed a birdie putt of no more than 18 inches on the last green.
Clarke said: 'I was too busy trying to see what was going on in the [Munster- Biarritz] match on the big screen in the tented village to pay attention to what I was doing.' |
Producer: Lu Xiaohong 
