From Myrtle Beach, the pros will take their hangovers 150 miles down the swampy South Carolina coast for a PGA tour event among the holiday homes and tall sea pines of Hilton Head Island, perhaps having broken their journey at Charleston for a crafty practice round beside the ocean at Kiawah, which will host this year's US PGA Championship in the sticky heat of the low-country August.

Having followed the same itinerary a few weeks ago, I can vouch for it as the perfect non-intensive touring holiday, mixing top-quality golf with the pleasures of an American road trip, a little heritage and considerable Southern comfort. It would be a pity to let golf take over the entire trip, as it easily might, with 103 courses in Myrtle Beach alone, more than 20 on Hilton Head and half a dozen on little Kiawah Island.