McGinley applauds Irish Ryder Cupbearers

THE €10 million or so that it cost to bring the Ryder Cup to Ireland is regarded as a “bargain” in many quarters and it undoubtedly is.

But Paul McGinley, a hero of Europe’s victories in 2002 and 2004 and a man with his heart set on playing at the K Club next September, prefers to regard it as “huge foresight on the parts of people in power, and basically Pádraig Ó hUiginn and Michael Smurfit”.

“They saw the way the Ryder Cup was going, how big it would be for Ireland, they made a huge play for it and deservedly got it.”