Not that such a concentrated period of practice seemed to make much immediate difference. The next morning Els' putting was again inconsistent, this time against Stenson. The Swede, winner of the aforementioned Accenture Match Play earlier this year, failed to take advantage of his opponent's fragility though, ending the morning round only 1 up.
It was at lunch that Els made the crucial adjustment.
"I had to make some kind of change," he acknowledged. "I was awful in the morning. It was very frustrating. I felt I was hanging too far back on my right side at address, so I was hitting up on the ball too much and not getting a good roll. I leaned more left and really tried to punch the ball, which made the stroke a little shorter."
That shorter stroke translated into longer putts holed at a crucial stage of the proceedings. Two up with eight to play, Els made putts of 12 feet or more on the 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th holes -- the first three for vital halves and the fourth for a win. One hole later the match was over.
At the same time, the other semifinal was living up to one of the championship's original premises, that of introducing up-and-coming young Americans to a wider audience. Indeed, Mahan was in many ways the star of the week. Largely unknown outside the PGA Tour, the 25-year old former U.S. Junior champion played some terrific stuff in seeing off England's media darling, Justin Rose, then the in-form Soren Hansen of Denmark.
In fact, one could argue that Mahan's performance when losing 2 and 1 to Cabrera was worthy of even more praise. Six down after 21 holes, the Californian made eight birdies thereafter in pushing his burly opponent all the way to the penultimate green. For his part, having made only one bogey all day, Cabrera was as many as 12 under par when the match eventually ended with a half in birdies on that 35th green.
"He was just a little better than me today," said the loser, accurately reflecting the impressions of many. "I just got a little too far behind. Losing three out of four holes after lunch really hurt."
Still, with a check for £120,000 to console him, Mahan, whose only other trip to England had been for last year's British Open at Hoylake, professed to have enjoyed the whole experience. He even made time to watch England take on France in the semifinal of the Rugby World Cup before jetting home.
"The British fans probably didn't know much about me before, but they do now," he said. "I love coming over here, and I got great support this week. When they get behind you, it's great."
That's true, as honorary Brit Els testified after seeing off Cabrera in a final where he always had at least an edge. Never down and 3 up after the morning round, his extensive match-play experience showed in how he subsequently held his potentially mercurial opponent at arm's length. Even three birdies in succession from the long fourth after lunch brought the Argentine only a one-hole gain.
The crucial thrusts came at the 28th and 30th, where Els' 11th and 12th birdies of the day took him to 4 up. Cabrera would get no closer and, soon enough, it was all over.
Earnings for the day: Els £1 million, Cabrera £400,000, IMG nil.
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