London: Cast your mind back to the Dubai World Championship last November where Lee Westwood was charged with the task of catching a flying Rory McIlroy if he were to win the European Tour Order of Merit.
Bear in mind that Westwood had come to look upon his stablemate as almost like a younger brother. So what happened on the first morning when young Rory was feeling the pressure and out of his comfort zone? Did Westy put an arm around his shoulder and offer him encouragement?
Did he heck. Metaphorically speaking, he placed his foot on his throat. That memory came flooding back on Sunday as Paul Casey spent the afternoon in constant conversation and laughter with the man he was trying to catch, the new Open champion Louis Oosthuizen. What on earth was that all about?
No one wants to see the golfing equivalent of what we witnessed from the Dutch in the World Cup final recently, or suggest Casey should say nothing for 18 holes. But surely you can be too nice.
It was the Ernie Els Foundation, which helps junior golfers back home in South Africa, that gave Oosthuizen his chance and you can imagine not only the pride of the patron, a former winner of the Claret Jug himself, pictured, of course, in 2002 but the gratitude of the recipient.
Indeed, Oosthuizen was so grateful that when he started making decent money himself he set up his own foundation to help the next generation.
