The Dubai Desert Classic draw agonisingly failed to deliver the most prickly of Sunday pairings - but at least Tyrell Hatton has a claim for being in the most awkward grouping of the year.
It was a crying shame for golf fans that Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed - both two back at eight-under after two rounds of this weather-delayed Rolex Series event in the desert - would not be meeting on the first tee.
A pairing between the two stars of Tee-Gate promised fireworks but McIlroy has avoided the media circus and can instead focus on breaking a curse by winning for first time on his opening start of the year at the Emirates Club.
The tournament - set for an unprecedented Monday finish due to an unusual deluge of rain - could have a tantalising climax with McIlroy and Reed part of the chasing pack hunting down leading LIV rebel Richard Bland and Belgian Thomas Pieters.
And there is an intriguing subplot to Sunday's third round action with Ryder Cup hopeful Hatton paired alongside Luke Donald and Henrik Stenson.
Stenson was stripped of one of the greatest honours in the sport when he ditched his European captaincy role in the biennial dual with the USA outside Rome to sign a mega-money LIV contract.
And his replacement Donald insisted "I won't be doing a Henrik" as he pledged to 'live up to his word' unlike Stenson before being revealed as captain. Many within golf circles had asserted that the Swede had let his players down by jumping ship for the Saudi millions in March.
And while the disputes between the DP World Tour and LIV rage on, tension is still set to reign over the tournaments that the LIV defectors are involved in.
Donald took the reigns from Stenson as Europe's skipper six months ago and Hatton joins the duo in a group that could rival any for its potentially painstaking awkwardness.
The trio - all eight shots back at two-under- have a mountain to climb to get into contention for Monday's finale and Hatton already hopes the subject of the Ryder Cup is not raised in conversation.
Englishman Hatton reacted to his Sunday group on Twitter as he reposted a GIF of him and Homer Simpson walking back into a hedge with the caption: "If the @rydercup is mentioned in my group tomorrow morning."
The universally-popular GIF is used to express a desire to be removed from an awkward social situation and Hatton has certainly found himself in one in Dubai. It is a group that will likely prove uncomfortable for Hatton as well as the two Ryder Cup veterans.
But it will also no doubt pique the interest of golf fans who simply cannot resist the schadenfreude. There is indeed a worthy consolation for those who were so desperate for the thorny McIlroy vs Reed showdown.
