David Mullin set a new course record at Estoril Golf Club in the 2023 TEG, a gross 80 in round 4. The previous mark of 86 had stood across the group's six prior visits. It was only Mullin's second time at the course. He beat his own best there, a 94, by 14 shots.

It began like nothing of the kind. Bogeys at the 4th and the 5th, then a double bogey at the par-5 6th, one of the harder holes on the course. A birdie at the 7th stopped the slide. After that the round simply gathered. Nine Stableford points across holes 11 to 13. Not a gross shot dropped at 12-13, at 16-17, or at 2-3, the last of those including a birdie.

Set beside round 3 it barely looks like the same man: 30 Stableford points then, 45 now, a swing of 15. Mullin will be keen that the record book notes which of the two rounds is the one engraved.

Gregg Williams held his lead in the 2023 Green Jacket race and then made matters worse for everybody else, moving from 14 shots clear to 16. His round at Estoril contained the best golf of his four days and the worst, in that order. The gross 80 was a course personal best, six strokes better than his previous visit to the club.

It was built on two hot patches. Nine Stableford points across holes 2 to 4, then nine more across holes 6 to 8. The second run was completed without dropping a gross shot, on a stretch that includes the 8th, the hardest hole on the course. He arrived at the turn looking like a man who had solved something. A double bogey at the 9th settled that.

The back nine had other ideas. A quadruple bogey 8 at the 14th was the round's low point. He then posted pars at the 15th and 16th, as though nothing whatsoever had happened. The Green Jacket lead never once looked up from its newspaper. Williams was in front throughout.

Alex Baker's fourth round at Estoril Golf Club had no beginning, middle or end. It only had duration. It opened with a quintuple bogey nine at the 1st. Quadruple bogeys followed at the 3rd and the 6th. The nadir came at the 12th, a septuple bogey 11, his worst hole against par of the day. Between the 5th and the 10th he shipped 14 shots across six holes, three of which passed without a single net par.

The gross total was 107. That is a new Estoril record for the worst score ever recorded at the venue, beating the 106 that had stood across six prior visits. It was also eight shots worse than Baker's own effort there last time out. Records fell in both directions at Estoril. Baker took sole responsibility for the direction nobody wants.

The rest was paperwork. A third Wooden Spoon, confirmed. His gap to safety was three shots before the round. It is now four.