McGinley takes his place in Irish sporting history

PAUL McGINLEY yesterday joined a long list of Irish men who have played crucial parts in Ryder Cup victories.

Those with long memories will recall how handsomely Harry Bradshaw and Christy O'Connor Senior contributed to the Britain & Ireland triumph at Lindrick in 1957, while there have been several more specific cases in the past thirteen years.

Eamonn Darcy's putt on the 18th to beat Ben Crenshaw in 1987 was vital. No Irishman will ever forget Christy Junior's fabulous two iron to The Belfry's 18th green in 1989. Nor how Philip Walton somehow kept his head to provide the clinching point at Oak Hill in 1995.

Now it's the turn of Paul McGinley. He guaranteed himself a special place in Irish sporting history for the rest of his days by holing the putt on the 18th that guaranteed the Ryder Cup returning to European hands and, for anyone lucky enough to know him, it couldn't have happened to a finer man.

He may have been one of the unsung members of the European team after going through a very lean season but only a fool would ever question his inner strength.

He was playing catch up against the formidable Jim Furyk almost from the very beginning as he fell two behind to successive birdies at the 2nd and 3rd. It could have all slipped away at this point but the Sunningdale-based Dubliner dug his heels in.

Not a whole lot happened for him over the opening nine which he completed in eight pars and a bogey at the 9th. He duly turned two down but was fortunate enough to claim the 10th with a par four only to slip up at the short 12th. It was back to one after the next and at last he was back to level pegging with the bravest of birdies at 17. The manner in which McGinley then parred the last to bring Europe to the magical 14 1/2 points mark is already the stuff of history.

He played the course in 72 shots and having been mobbed and nearly crushed to death by his team-mates was unceremoniously dumped in The Belfry lake. That dazzling smile of Paul's never left his face and he must have felt the proudest man in the world.

"There is something about this Ryder Cup and the Irish", he said. "It was great to get the opportunity to sink the winning putt and it was even greater to have the nerve to make it. I knew the line, it was only a case of hitting it on the line. You can tell it's down to you when fellows like Darren, Padraig, Monty, everybody was watching that I knew it was crucial. And when I got to the green, Sam said, 'do it for me', and I knew then that the Cup wasn't won but that a halved match would win it."

Padraig Harrington, meanwhile, came into the match as one of Europe's keymen and while he wouldn't admit it straight out, you suspected he felt he had underachieved in the European cause, especially on Friday when he lost his two matches.

As a result, he was rested by Sam Torrance for Saturday's foursomes and while he played solidly in partnering Colin Montgomerie to a 2 & 1 victory over Phil Mickelson and David Toms in the afternoon fourballs, it was the magnificent Scot who played the major part in the successful outcome scoring six birdies to two by the Irishman.

So Harrington felt he had a point to prove to himself and his team-mates when he went into singles battle yesterday against Mark Calcavecchia. But he needn't have worried. From the outset, he was in inspired form, no doubt happy to have not only his wife, Caroline, as his chief cheerleader, but his mother, Breda, inside the ropes as well.

A 5 & 4 thrashing of a former Open champion and a man of Calcavecchi's reputation is a great result by any standards but it could and should have been even more. He missed genuine birdie chances after faultless approach play at the opening two holes and was handed the lead when Calcavecchia couldn't manage a par at the long 3rd and regulation was again sufficient to capture the 5th as the American's head already appeared to drop.

It didn't help his peace of mind when Harrington snatched an outrageous half at the long 8th where he hooked his drive into a lake, dropped under penalty, crashed a three wood into a greenside bunker before splashing out to four feet and knocking in the putt.

The margin opened to three when a twenty footer at the short 7th trembled on the edge for a second before toppling but it was very much the opposite case at the 9th where he charged a thirty footer that would undoubtedly have run off the green altogether only to hit the back of the hole, jump inches in the air and drop into the cup.

Calc stood there in disbelief, wondering if this was really happening to him. It was the kind of golfing nightmare we all suffer where everything goes right for one man and the reverse happens for the other.

Harrington, out in 34 to 40 by his hapless opponent, was four up and after that concentrated on eradicating any suggestion of error from his play. The next four were halved in pars before Harrington finished it all off majestically with a five iron to five feet and he confidently dispatched the putt for a two and the match. It was the kind of early point in the bank that Europe badly needed and it was provided with consummate ease by a man well capable of handling the pressure laden situation.

"That shot at the 14th was the far the best I hit all week", he said. "Up to then I had been thinking about the team, making sure I didn't do anything wrong, lagging my putts. But this time, I wanted the glory for myself and I was intent of making that putt. There was still a long way to go but to see Paul McGinley finish it off in the way he did was fantastic. It wasn't an easy putt and if he had missed the match could very easily have swung their way.

"I've got to say I was a hundred per cent on top of my game this week. But when Mark gave me the opportunity, I took it. The team always had the faith. I had to have faith in what I was doing. I just had to be the best I could. Once I got a few ahead, it was a question of keeping the pressure on."