McGinley fires a confidence boosting 68
McGinley finished five strokes behind winner Eduardo Romero, who defeated Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson in a playoff.
“I had no bogeys at the weekend, and six birdies,” he said. “I feel I’m back on track. I feel like I’m playing the way I can normally play. I haven’t had that feeling for a while.”
McGinley arrived in Scotland low on confidence after missing the cut in his last two tournaments, the US Open and the Smurfit European Open. “This round was important because my form hasn’t been good the last month. I had very little confidence when I came here at the start of the week. “
McGinley spent long sessions on the practice range at Loch Lomond with coach Pete Cowen.
“Technically, I was swinging the club really badly over the last month. I was getting the club too much behind me and I was hooking the ball as a result.
“I’ve hit a lot of balls this week, probably more than I’ve ever hit at a tournament before. I’m now actually fading the ball. I’m now struggling to draw the ball but that’s a good turn around.”
McGinley played with a new attitude: “I was hitting fairways and taking on pins. I felt I could be aggressive because I was confident with my swing and I haven’t had that feeling for the last month.”
“I mean I went straight for pin at the last hole even though it was in a tough position. I haven’t had the bottle to do that lately.”
He now heads for Muirfield confident he can compete with the best players in the world.
“I’m looking forward to it because I’m playing well and it’s the fairest Open Course. You don’t need a lot of power to do well there, and it rewards good shot-making. After today I feel I have a good chance to do well there.”
McGinley has played in nine Open Championships and missed the cut in five. His best finish in The Open is a tie for 14th in the 1996 Open.
Last year he finished tied for 54th.
Michael Hoey finished 3-under for the tournament in a tie for 32nd place. The former amateur champion earned a cheque for £16,646. He had a 2-under-par 69 yesterday, but said his score should have been lower. The 23-year-old Shandon Park golfer putted poorly yesterday.
“I’m struggling with my putting right now,” Hoey said. “I’m really negative on the greens for some reason. I hit it close at the last five greens and could have birdied all five but only birdied three of them. I’ve been blocking my putts and my Dad has told me to move the ball forward in my stance, but it’s hard to be positive under pressure when you’ve been struggling for so long.
“I’ve been putting too much pressure on myself the last few tournaments and I haven’t played to my potential at all. It’s been the wrong approach really, but I played well today and that experience should stand me in good stead for the rest of the year.”
The Scottish Open was Hoey’s sixth of seven possible sponsor’s invitations on the European Tour this season. He’s only made two cuts, winning just over £24,000. He’s not sure where his next European Tour start will come from.
I’ve got one more invitation left and I’ll have to make a lot of money to play on out here. I might have a spot in the Welsh Open, but I don’t know for sure yet. I think it’s going to have to be the qualifying school at the end of the year to get my card for next year. I need to make enough money from my next event to avoid having to go through the first round of qualifying.”
Darren Clarke returned a level par 71 yesterday to finish the tournament on 4-under-par and in 25th place.
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