Well, that’s another of life’s annual little ceremonies over again. I am, of course, talking about Valentine’s Day, that panic-stricken 24-hour period in which bumbling men folk deliver the kind of awkward, blundering romantic gestures that would make Mr Bean look like Casanova. At least we can now get back to focusing on the things we have given up for Lent. The problem is, I couldn’t decide what to give up this season (romantic gestures were discontinued by this correspondent last year, according to my better half.) “Why don’t you give the Tuesday column a rest for 40 days?,” muttered the sports editor as he pored over the weekly offering with the sighing resignation of a man being forced to proof read his own eviction notice. Funnily enough, his idea generated such a surge in widespread backing, it almost sparked an inquiry into irregular betting patterns from the Gambling Commission’s Intelligence Unit.

That particular body has got enough on its plate with the apparent jiggery pokery going on in tennis. In golf, meanwhile, you probably would have been frogmarched out of the bookies had you waddled up to the counter prior to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and said “I’ll have a tenner on Vaughn Taylor please.”

But that’s the best thing about this game; the sheer unpredictably, the variables, the fluctuating fortunes, the surprises and the boundless potential for the rest to beat the best on any given week.

Phil Mickelson, who finished runner-up, may be in the midst of a winless run that stretches back to the Open in 2013 but Taylor, who only got in the field as a late reserve, hadn’t won for 11 years. He had become such a forgotten man I, and no doubt many others, had completely forgotten that he played in the 2006 Ryder Cup at the K-Club, where he picked up a half-point in the foursomes against Colin Montgomerie and Lee Westwood but was beaten 4&3 by Henrik Stenson in the singles. His Sunday success was quickly dubbed the miracle in Monterey. It was perhaps something of a miracle that he was there in the first place following a boating accident 18 months ago. “Once you're in the water, in the current, without a life jacket, you think it's easy to swim, but it really changes when the water's up to your nose and you don't know what's happening,” reflected Taylor after a triumph that gave him his full PGA Tour playing privileges back after years spent muddling around in the wilderness. “It was pretty scary. I really thought for a minute that this could be it.”

He has probably been thinking that ‘this could be it’ for his golfing career in recent years too but in this funny old game of fine margins you are only one good week away from turning it all around and Taylor’s tale is another lesson in perseverance, resolve and belief that can inspire those golfers who are toiling and teetering. At 39, and with a debut at the Masters forming part of the bundle of perks, Taylor’s sporting life has been re-born. In a field featuring six of the world’s top-10 players, how does a man ranked 447th on the global pecking order conquer all? Goodness knows … but then that’s the great thing about this mystifying, magical game.

AND ANOTHER THING

In attempting to smooth the path between the amateur-to-professional game, the funding provided to a few through Scottish Golf Support Ltd (SGSL) has caused quite a bit of mumbling and cursing. It is an admirable venture to try and aid what has become a major talking point in the domestic game but as more and more players turn pro, then more and more will be looking for assistance. The questions of ‘why he got it but she didn’t’ and ‘how come he got this but she didn’t get that’ grow each year while there seems to be a feeling that those at SGSL – who are dealing with public money – demonstrate a lack of transparency and communication and have shrouded the whole process about who gets what in vagueness. Of course, there can be no room for a feeling of entitlement among players but perhaps a less is more policy would work better. Instead of giving around £23,000 worth of support to just three players, they could spread smaller amounts among a larger number. There are other support networks in Scotland – Team Scottish Hydro, for instance, does a fine job – but when you’ve got separate bodies all doing their own thing and players getting bits here and bobs there it can become something of a dog’s breakfast. Some joined up expertise and a unified vision going forward would maybe help to clear things up.