Eight years ago, the 159th-ranked player in the world, Paul Lawrie, won, and the 152nd-ranked player, Jean Van de Velde, should have won.

However, with Open victories going to the unheralded Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton in the meantime, it's not as if tricked-up courses are the only ones to produce unlikely champions.

Still, the goings-on at Carnoustie in '99, when Lawrie's winning total was six over par in what were reasonably clement conditions, produced a caustic response from John Hawkins who was then with Golfweekmagazine.

"Instead of ending the century on a joyous note, " wrote Hawkins, "the Royal and Ancient inexplicably cast itself as the Ruthless and Arrogant, turning one of the world's most demanding courses into a 7,400 yard pinball machine and allowing the Unabomber of greenkeepers to man the flippers."

While the hapless Van de Velde and the links itself made all the headlines subsequently, Rod Pampling's dubious achievement flew under the radar. Leading the championship by one shot after an opening 71, Pampling slumped to an 86 the following day to miss the cut by three. So now you know who was the first player to hold the outright lead in a major after the first round, and then to miss the cut.

SEVE WILL FIND GOING TOUGH ON TOUR While Seve Ballesteros, who turns 50 the day after the Masters ends, has said he plans to try to revive his flagging fortunes on the Champions Tour, there still has to be some uncertainty about whether he can be competitive even in threeday events with no cuts.

With the likes of Tom Watson, Craig Stadler and Jay Haas ensconced on the tour, and with Nick Price, Mark O'Meara, Bernhard Langer and Nick Faldo due to sign up at various times this season, Ballesteros will find the going tough.

But this latest attempt to rediscover his game is bound to be compelling. "You talk about somebody such as Pele or Muhammad Ali, they were superstars, " said Paul McGinley recently. "Certainly, Seve's like that in our sport. He had way more charisma than anybody else. Tiger included."