McGinley pips Harrington for Player of the Year accolade

PAUL McGinley has been rewarded for a year that saw him win the Volvo Masters and rise from 68th in the world rankings to a career-high 18th by being named the O2 Irish Golf Writers’ Association ‘Professional Player of the Year’ for 2005.

This is despite the fact that his chief rival Pádraig Harrington has won twice on the US Tour this year.

It was McGinley’s second professional award. Last year, he shared the honour with Harrington and Darren Clarke for the trio’s performances in helping Europe retain the Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills in Michigan. The Dubliner, 39 on Friday, will receive his award at the O2 IGWA annual awards dinner, which will be held at Elm Park GC, Dublin, on January 12th.

In a season which saw McGinley finish third in the PGA European Tour Order of Merit, behind Colin Montgomerie and US Open winner Michael Campbell, his victory at the Volvo Masters came after a series of near-misses throughout 2005 when he finished runner-up on three occasions and was third in the WGC-NEC Invitational, won by Tiger Woods. His three second place finishes came in the TCL Classic in China, the BMW (PGA) Championship at Wentworth, and the HSBC World Matchplay Championship at Wentworth.

Other award-winners are:

Leading amateur: Brian McElhinney’s victory in the British Amateur Championship sees the Donegal man capture the ‘Men’s Amateur Player of the Year’ award for a second successive year. McElhinney, who made his Walker Cup debut in Chicago in August, was also a member of the North-West GC team that won the Bulmers Irish Senior Cup at Rosslare in September. In becoming the first Irish winner of the Amateur Championship since Michael Hoey in 2001, McElhinney emerged as a 5&4 winner over Scotland’s John Gallagher and secured an invitation to play in next year’s US Masters at Augusta.

Leading Lady: Tricia Mangan, of Ennis GC, has been named as the ‘Women’s Amateur Player of the Year’ following her victory in the Lancome Irish Ladies Close Championship where she defeated Limerick’s Catherine Tucker in the final. Mangan also played a significant role in Great Britain & Ireland’s 13-11 win over the continent of Europe in the Vagliano Trophy in Paris when she won three points from four matches.

Distinguished Services: The award for 2005 has been awarded to Pádraig O hUiginn, a native of Cork who played an important part in securing the 2006 Ryder Cup for Ireland and who was also instrumental in the foundation of the Team Ireland Golf Trust which assists young professional golfers in their fledgling careers.