McGinley back to his best with birdie blitz

PAUL MCGINLEY and Mark O’Meara fed off each other yesterday to make a nonsense of their alarming slide down the world rankings.

Ryder Cup hero McGinley, who has dropped from 35th at the end of 2001 to 159th, had a magical eight successive birdies and 14 in 24 holes as he took the second round lead in the Dubai Desert Classic.

But O'Meara, at 47 years old and a lowly 201st in the rankings six years on from the Masters and Open triumphs put him fourth, is only one behind after a second round 64.