McGinley in the box seat
McGinley, in the tenth and last automatic Ryder Cup place going into the final counting tournament of the campaign, shot a solid round of 70 to strengthen his claims for Oakland Hills next month while Montgomerie virtually assured himself of one of Bernhard Langer's two wild card selections with his splendid five under par 67.
It was essential for Monty to demonstrate to his captain that his current form warranted inclusion while McGinley needed to position himself nicely going into the weekend. Both men succeeded admirably.
Without any Ryder Cup distractions, South African Retief Goosen returned after an enforced two weeks absence because of injury to cruise into the first day with a blemishless six under par 66, one ahead of a group that contains Montgomerie and John Daly while Pádraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell were among those who had to settle for level par rounds of 72.
While Luke Donald and Alex Cejka shot 68 to maintain Langer's attention, McGinley's prospects of getting in under his own steam have been enhanced by yesterday's developments. True, Joakim Haeggman finished a shot better but he was 61,504 points behind the Irishman going into the tournament - a huge amount of ground to make up. Jeff Remesy was next best but 45,392 adrift so an opening 74 has seriously damaged his hopes.
Also in the equation, although further off McGinley's pace, were Freddie Jacobson and Brian Davis and they scored 71 and 72 respectively.
If McGinley makes the cut tonight, it will be very much a done deal.
He began his day at Nord-Eichenried at the 10th with eight straight pars before he cracked a mighty three wood of 269 yards to within four feet of the 18th flag for an eagle three. On the way back, he mixed a bogey at the short 2nd with a birdie at the 5th and otherwise it was regulation stuff.
So far, he is adhering to his game plan of shooting four consistent rounds and believes renewing his relationship with mind guru Jos Vanstiphout at the Open Championship followed by a 66 in the third round of the Irish Open has played a major part in getting him back on track.
"That round gave me a lot of impetus and momentum which I've carried through, but I'm not getting ahead of myself," he declared.
"There's a long way to go. I've had a good start, yes, but Haeggman is on the board and I'll be surprised if I don't see a few more. I'm expecting them to make a charge because if I was in their position, I'd be quite confident of making a charge myself.
"At the end of the day, I'm competitive. There's a lot of pressure this week but it's an exciting pressure. I'm going for a goal I really want.
"Getting into situations like this is why you play the game. I don't know where I need to finish because I can't be sure of what other guys will do so I've just got to play well, focus on what I'm doing, keep my foot to the floor and go as fast as I can. I'm pleased with this start. I'm trying to play aggressively but it was tough to do that today with many of the pins at the back of the greens and so much spin on the ball."
While almost everybody wanted Montgomerie in the side, there had to be reservations given his poor form for most of the year. And with others, not least his playing partner yesterday, Luke Donald, pushing hard, he needed to provide Langer with a sizeable nudge before he came to a final decision. Monty's blemish-free 67 was highlighted by an eagle at the long 6th and we also saw that delightful but all too rare smile again at the 16th where he rattled home a 35-footer. He is clearly thrilled to have reunited at the week-end with Alistair McLean, his caddy for all of his seven European Tour order of merit victories and four of his six Ryder Cup appearances.
"I always pride myself on the fact that I don't make bogeys," said Monty. "It's nice to get off to a decent start and the main reason is my caddy. To be honest, I've missed Alistair. We were both quite wise never to shut the door on our relationship. I felt very confident with him on the bag and it was a good round of golf. This whole game is based on confidence. If you think you're going to achieve something, you're halfway there."
A delightful misunderstanding took place between Monty and Luke Donald on the first tee. "Do you think we're okay?" asked Monty. Donald assumed he was referring to their respective prospects of making the Ryder Cup team. Not so. Monty explained: "I was thinking, was it going to rain, I would never, ever, say that to him in any other context. I'm far too professional for that."
Nevertheless, Montgomerie supports his inclusion: "He was under more pressure than I because while Bernhard knows what I can do in that competition, Luke is a rookie. That's why I think his score was better than mine on the day."
: (Gbr unless stated, par 72): (x) denotes amateurs.
66 R Goosen (Rsa)
67 C Montgomerie, P O'Malley (Aus), J Daly (USA), D Lynn
68 L Donald, M Angel Jimenez (Spa), A Cejka (Ger), R Jacquelin (Fra), M Jonzon (Swe)
69 E Canonica (Ita), P Sjoland (Swe), M Foster, J Haeggman (Swe), H Stenson (Swe), J Edfors (Swe), J Spence, J-F Lucquin (Fra), P Casey, I Giner (Spa)
70 S Struver (Ger), P Broadhurst, C Rodiles (Spa), Paul McGinley (Irl),S Kjeldsen (Den), S Dyson, D Park, T Price (Aus), T Schuster (Ger)
71 M Brier (Aut), M Roe, M Fraser (Aus), S Webster, M Lafeber (Ned), R Karlsson (Swe), A Marshall, Gary Murphy (Irl), B Dredge, N O'Hern (Aus), F Jacobson (Swe), S Garcia (Spa), J Sandelin (Swe), G Emerson, S Fernandez (Ger), J Lupprian (Ger)
72 S Gallacher, F Andersson (Swe), P Lawrie, B Davis, T Kogler (Aut), S Luna (Spa), S Khan, S Scahill (Nzl), M Blackey, MA Martin (Spa), K Eriksson (Swe), M Wiegele (Aut), N Sato (Jpn), S Dodd, L Westwood, Darren Clarke (Irl), PádraigHarrington (Irl), A Hansen (Den), Graeme McDowell (Irl), M Erlandsson (Swe), R Coles, N Colsaerts (Bel), P Hedblom (Swe)
73 J Hepworth, S O'Hara, R-J Derksen (Ned), J Kingston (Rsa), Damien McGrane (Irl), D Carter, P Baker, I Poulter, Peter Lawrie (Irl) ,T Levet (Fra), T Bjorn (Den), B Lane, G Owen, C Schwartzel (Rsa), A Coltart, R Rashell (USA), D Fichardt (Rsa), J Lomas, B Mason, Pl Marantz (Aus), J M Carriles (Spa), P Fowler (Aus), D Howell, S Hansen (Den), A Wall, S Wakefield, A Raitt, M Lemesurier, I Pyman, R Russell, J Elson, T Gogele (Ger), D Geall
74 J-F Remesy (Fra), A Oldcorn, T Dier (Ger), M Olander (Swe), H Otto (Rsa), P Fulke (Swe), D Dixon, M Haremza (Ger), P Golding, A Forsyth, M Farry (Fra), M Siem (Ger), K Ferrie, M Vibe-Hastrup (Den)
75 P Lima (Fra), T Jaidee (Tha), C Rocca (Ita), G Orr, G Hanrahan (USA), P Nyman (Swe), G Havret (Fra), C Hanell (Swe), B Rumford (Aus), M Tunnicliff, J Moseley (Aus), N Faldo, S Little, J Clement (Swi), J Bickerton, C Cevaer (Fra), G Brand Jnr, D Borrego (Spa), M Ilonen (Fin), L Oosthuizen (Rsa)
76 P Hanson (Swe), J M Lara (Spa), N Dougherty, R Claydon, (x) N Meitinger (Ger), R Rock, T Johnstone (Zim), E Simsek (Ger), D Inglis, C Reimbold (Ger)
77 S Lyle, R Muntz (Ned), R Sterne (Rsa), D Robertson
78 Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Richard Green (Aus), (x) Florian Fritsch (Ger)
80 David Gilford
82 L Shang (Chn), N Fritz (USA)
Retired: R Chapman
Peter Hanson withdrew after 1st round
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