"The course set-up is making guys lash out."

Lawrence Donegan reports on the Paul Casey-Ernie Els pairing Saturday going off without a hitch despite Casey's criticism of Ernie Els's Wentworth redo 3.0. Seems the setup is now to blame for the lousy architecture, though I'm pretty sure the European Tour staff didn't redo the greens or import that pretty water hazard from Florida!

Indeed the South African, who remodelled his initial remodelling of Harry Colt's classic layout over the winter, appeared to suggest the tour officials charged with setting up the course had gone over the top. "Some of the flag positions, on the 14th and the 15th ... are crazy,'' he said after signing for his round of 72, one over par.

Paul Casey seconded that emotion. The Englishman's coincidental reward for criticising the course set-up on Friday was to be drawn alongside Els on Saturday – a pairing that placed the UN peacekeeping force on red alert. Yet in the end there was more unanimity between them than you would find at the Soviet parliament. "The course set-up is making guys lash out,'' Casey said with Els standing by his side.

That must have been a touching moment.