Belfry holds no fear for McGinley

HIS Ryder Cup debut here at the Belfry may have been only five days away but as he watched television in his plush Sunningdale home, Paul McGinley's mind was far from golf.

Dubliner McGinley has always been a Gaelic football fanatic and on Sunday he sat and anxiously watched Armagh capture Sam Maguire, for the first time. Maybe there was a pang that his native county, weren't there, but he was impressed nonetheless: "I don't think I've ever been as excited before as I was watching Armagh win that match", he enthused. "For you guys who don't know anything about football, it was like Leicester City beating Manchester United in the Cup final having been two or three down at half time. It was terribly exciting. It was a wonderful, wonderful game".

Now, though, he's facing into a totally different situation. All the trappings of success were evident as McGinley pulled up outside the on-site hotel here at The Belfry in his gleaming BMW accompanied by his wife, Alison, who is expecting their third child in five weeks time. It will be a tough week for her, too, but at least Killian and Niamh are safely back home being looked after by relations.

"I'm looking forward to getting started, it's been a long wait", said McGinley. "Everybody's form is sure to go up and down in 12 months and I think I've suffered a little bit from that. I played here on the Friday last September when the match was due to start and it was a lot different to when we come here in May for the Benson & Hedges International. It's different when you look at a golf course with trees that are scrawny and when the grass isn't fully grown and compare it with when the leaves are on the trees and the place is lush and green. I'm glad I did it".

The intervening months, however, have been anything but productive for McGinley. The net result of a string of failures "The Ryder Cup has preyed on my mind particularly during the bad times", he agreed. "Having said that, I've made the team and I feel I deserve to have done so. In the last four or five weeks, I've played quite reasonably, I haven't produced the scores and now I'm looking forward to being in a team situation, something I've always enjoyed."

Thomas Bjorn's advice to the rookies that they should bring their "bicycle clips" because of the unique pressure exerted by the Ryder Cup may not be the most politically correct expression in the world, but McGinley accepted that he knew where the Dane was coming from: "Everybody has been telling me that it will be nerve-racking and I'm looking forward to seeing how I cope. I'm looking forward to the daunting part of the week. I have thought of how it's going to be, but I can't comment until I've experienced it. I'll tell you next Monday".

McGinley had little good to say of American Express for failing to invite Ryder Cup players who didn't qualify for their Mount Juliet World Championship.

"Four rounds of competitive golf would have been good for me," he said. "The fact that the tournament was in Ireland made it worse. In my opinion, it was an opportunity missed by the sponsor".