Pressure on for ‘in-shape’ McGinley
The BMW International to be played over a rather mundane and ordinary course called Golfclub Munchen Nord-Eichenried eight miles outside the Bavarian city will decide the trio that joins Pádraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Darren Clarke, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Lee Westwood, Thomas Levet and Paul Casey for the September trip to Oakland Hills, Detroit.
Little has changed since last week’s US PGA Championship with David Howell, Ian Poulter and Paul McGinley still commanding the last three automatic spots.
Howell has 1,133,882 points to his credit, Poulter 1,118,004 and McGinley 1,101,912.
McGinley is 45,392 clear of Jeff Remesy with Joakim Haeggman a further 16,114 behind. England’s Brian Davis, Germany’s Alex Cejka and the Swede Fredrik Jacobsson remain in the equation guaranteeing the BMW tournament an all-consuming interest it wouldn’t otherwise enjoy.
McGinley plays his 13th tournament in 14 weeks and while he still insists he is in great shape mentally and physically, it is a fair assumption that the pressure is telling.
He had a great opportunity to steal ahead of Howell and Poulter in the NEC World Championship in Akron at the weekend but could do no better than tie for 46th with a six over total par of 286.
Given the weather conditions and the sodden nature of the Firestone course, that was by no means a poor effort but compared with the 11-under of the winner Stewart Cink, it was still quite a disappointment for the 37-year-old Dubliner,
“I battled as hard as I could,” he said yesterday in Munich. “I’ll now regroup and go out and see how the cards fall. A hot week would do it for me as it would for some of the others but my destiny is in my own hands.
“I have usually done well here - I shot 17-under in 2001 and that was only good for a share of 10th. In the last two seasons, I came in 17th (11-under) and 24th (10-under) so obviously it’s a course on which you have to shoot seriously low numbers to do any good.”
McGinley picked up €32,985 in Akron which helped narrow the gap between him, Howell and Poulter but he remains vulnerable to attack from Remesy, Haeggman and Jacobsson.
Yet the Dubliner insists that this is the kind of pressure he likes.
“Making the Ryder Cup is not a negative pressure,” he said.
“Guys out struggling to pay the mortgages and keeping the kids in school - that’s pressure.
“A nice pressure is when you’re at the pinnacle of your sport and trying to make one of the premier teams in golf.”
The dedication he has shown in chasing the coveted place demonstrates just how much it means to him and how it would make him the ideal team man. And then, of course, there’s the question of Bernhard Langer’s two “wild card” selections.
Colin Montgomerie has been pencilled in by most people but his game right now is terrible and I believe that Langer should look very closely at younger players like Jacobsson, Donald and perhaps more than anyone else, his fellow countryman Cejka.
Pádraig Harrington is in absolutely no doubt that one of them should go to McGinley as he points out: “The kind of player you want is one in form and who has been there before. Form and experience. Paul has both those qualities so why look elsewhere?”
Why indeed - except, of course, there are several other candidates as well. There is a very wide volume of opinion - much of it emanating from Scotland and England - that Colin Montgomerie is an absolute certainty. His experience and excellent Ryder Cup record demand as much. However, there is the state of Monty’s golf over the past six months to be considered.
Apart from 4th place in the Scandinavian Masters and a decent enough early showing in the Open Championship, he has done embarrassingly little and finished 58th in Akron on Sunday following on 70th the previous week at the US PGA.
He hit only 17 of 36 greens in regulation over the weekend and found only five fairways on Saturday before improving to eleven on Sunday. And then there are his marital problems as he continues to rebuild his life after the tortured break up with wife Eimear.
You would have to have a heart of stone not to feel sympathy for somebody in Monty’s situation but the reality is that both mentally and golf-wise he is currently a bit of a mess and consequently a potential liability to a group of men who rely almost as much on team spirit and togetherness as they do on their golfing expertise in their bi-annual jousts with the Yanks.
On top of those who just fail to make the top 10 automatically, the Scot is also faced with the challenge of Luke Donald, Jacobsson, Remesy, Haeggman and Brian Davis for that coveted pick. Jesper Parnevik, however, is out of the running having withdrawn from the BMW.
Speaking of Montgomerie on Sunday night, Langer said: “I would have been nice to see him contend but last week was a difficult course and he made the cut, so he’s not far away.
“But I told the guys to make the team on their own. Don’t wait to get a pick. As for Parnevik, his withdrawal is a sign of resignation that he’s not going to make it. I think he knows I have three or four guys playing better at the moment that I would probably go with.”
It all makes for a fascinating and exciting few days in Munich.
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