Perhaps he thought about snide remarks made at The Belfry in 1993 when his

Perhaps he thought about snide remarks made at The Belfry in 1993 when his defeat by Davis Love, after being one up with two to play, kept the Ryder Cup in American hands.When a bogey at the 16th left Woods defeated by 4 and 2, all Rocca could hear was the roar of a Ryder Cup crowd. She did so and the deputy leader went into orbit.Though Prescott was later assured that his exclusion had been an oversight that would not be repeated, he believed they had met secretly to avoid his finding out about key economic decisions until it was too late.The leader and his deputy were due to meet on the London train to thrash out Blair’s plans for reforming Clause Four of the party constitution, on which Prescott’s support was vital. Prescott knew that his exclusion from the meeting went to the heart of the two men’s relationship. He was prepared to be loyal to Blair, but their relationship had to be built on trust.Blair bounced on to the train, oblivious to the impending storm, and approached Prescott all smiles with hand outstretched. Prescott hit him with both Prescott barrels: “Sit down …” said the deputy.If their relationship was to work, Prescott felt he had to clear the air and do some plain speaking to establish his own role, and make it clear that it was intolerable to be kept out of the “loop” Their leadership double-act was in the balance. Blair must have known that Prescott could become a deadly opponent of the modernisation project.For an hour or so, they thrashed out Prescott’s position in a Blair government as the train made its way to London.

It is unclear what other passengers must have thought as the pair had their frankest exchange since winning the leadership elections. Prescott, as he had with Kinnock, made Blair set down their agreement in writing. He still has the hand-written note saying he would be Deputy Prime Minister. I have not seen it, but knowing Prescott, I have not the slightest hesitation in believing it exists.When they reached London, Blair said they should go to his home in Islington to sort out the Clause Four strategy.

When Cherie came into the room, she said, “Oh, I didn’t think you’d be here.” “Nor did I love,” said Prescott.Before he left, he ensured the note was safely in his pocket. This incident will be seen as a mark of Prescott’s lack of confidence at that time, but the relationship between the deputy and the leader was, in the long run, strengthened by the fire of Prescott’s anger. He went into the election relaxed about his position; he covered 10,222 miles in the Prescott express, train, boat – a barge in Chester – plane and car; he wore out a pair of shoes, and hardly put a foot wrong.He had nursed the ambition of being a deputy prime minister with the freewheeling power across Whitehall enjoyed by Michael Heseltine, including a hand on the economic levers at the Treasury, jealously guarded by the shadow Chancellor. England will hear it when they play a World Cup qualifying match in Rome next week and doubtless plenty of their supporters will supply fresh evidence of xenophobia.However, in the eyes of the many British golf fans in attendance yesterday, Rocca was a heroic European.

Three up and an encouraging pat from Ballesteros.The further Rocca went with his measured gait- more that of a tenor taking the stage than a professional athlete – the more people picked up on the chant “Forza, Forza”, which is most commonly associated with the urging of Italy’s national football team. Some boldness was called for and in that department the American never needs any bidding. The green was a long way off but with his great length Woods was capable of getting there. He probably would done but a mobile telephone went off in the gallery, causing the collapse of his backswing.After glaring across the fairway, Woods set up again only for his concentration to be further affected by a wasp. When he finally got the shot off he immediately flung an arm left to warn of wayward direction. The hole was halved, but at the next, Rocca, with his captain, Severiano Ballesteros, now in attendance, struck another blow for the Europeans with a dead-eye approach that made his birdie a formality. “Well, my man, that’s some way to start but anything as long as it gets the job done,” Woods said to his caddie Mike “Fluff” Cowan It didn’t.

Rocca one up and beaming.After going two down at the third, Woods had one of those experiences golfers can do without when things are not going well. The fact that Woods was until recently the world No 1 clearly meant little to the man from Bergamo.In any case, Woods was soon beset by technical problems, sending a wedged approach at the first so left that he needed a lucky bounce from a television gantry to find the green. The only American to appear in every match, he had only one win and a half to show for his efforts.It was soon evident that Woods would need his very best form to bring about the improvement American supporters were hoping for, because after only three holes Rocca was already two up and looking as though he had the young American’s measure. There was some heavy European firepower to come, but would his match be important to the outcome?Then there was the memory of playing alongside Woods in the last round of this year’s Masters.