Irish pair in hot pursuit as Hedblom sets pace

THE Irish takeover of the £4m BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth continues apace.

Even though 35-year-old Swede Peter Hedblom, ranked 240 in the world, swept into a three-shot halfway lead last night, seven Irishmen stand their ground with most fancying their chances of departing tomorrow night with the first prize of £666,660. Hedblom's 65 jumped him up to 11 under, but the Irish are in strong pursuit.

On Thursday, it was Graeme McDowell and Peter Lawrie sharing the top of the leaderboard at five under par. And as this pair slipped down the list yesterday, along came Paul McGinley with a superb 64, just one outside the course record, to set the early pace on eight under.

Minutes later, Pádraig Harrington finished with a 68 for six under and by the end of the day Darren Clarke and Damien McGrane, both four under; Gary Murphy and Lawrie two under and McDowell, one under, were through to the weekend.

For now, though, the McGinley-Harrington axis remains the chief source of Irish interest. The pair have been close friends for many years and on Thursday night they sat down in the McGinley homestead in nearby Sunningdale to a meal of chicken lemon prepared and cooked by Alison McGinley.

"It was first-class except that McGinley kept giving out to me for feeding the dog off the table," said a suitably chastened Harrington. He then went on to explain the situation between them as they head into a weekend where they may well be going head-to-head for the most coveted title on the European Tour.

"You know, I think Paul and myself would be very happy if we come down the 18th fighting it out," said Harrington. "I wish him all the best right through to the finish and if I'm there with him, then we'll compete with each other. You're not going to be competing against another player until right at the end and in that case I'll be trying to beat Paul just as much as I would be trying to beat any other player."

Although victorious teammates in the 1997 World Cup in Kiawah Island, McGinley owes Harrington one for the manner in which he almost stole the 2001 Volvo Masters from him at Montecastillo. They were level coming to the 18th where Pádraig rattled in a 25-footer for a birdie with McGinley in the last match watching balefully from the middle of the fairway. That left Paul needing a birdie to tie but he could do no better than a par four so it was Harrington's day. On this occasion, however, you have to quietly fancy McGinley's claims not just because he holds the lead but more because of his greater liking for the Burma Road lay-out.

Yesterday's blemishless eight under par 64 made that point perfectly and was highlighted by an eagle three at the 12th where McGinley hit a massive drive and followed with a six iron to 12 feet. He didn't hide his satisfaction as he claimed "it was a very comfortable 64, I hit every green in regulation apart from the first and that was only by inches. I had a chance of equalling the course record when standing over a 10-footer on the 18th. I read the putt very well but didn't commit to it."

McGinley is 68th in the world and must return to the top 50 to automatically get into the upcoming US and British Opens. A top two or three finish here might do the trick but a victory that would really define him as one of the finest European players of the era is what he avidly craves. He was down in the dumps after a moderate 72 on Thursday and explained the eight stroke improvement thus: "I kicked myself in the ass, went out to play good golf and get off to a good start and managed to create some early momentum."

McGinley, articulate and persuasive as ever, propounded his belief that the Europeans must play more courses like Wentworth if they are to challenge for major championships in the United States.

"I played Wentworth today the way it should be played. Course management, strategy, shot making, knowing what pins to go for. To me, that should be the future of golf and what the USGA and the R&A should be working towards. If we are going to compete in major championships, we need to be playing courses similar to Wentworth. It's not quite set up for a US Open but there are similar characteristics. Most of the tournaments we play are not like that and I think we should be really getting the greens firm and tucking the pins away. I saw some out there today which have never been seen on the European Tour before and all credit to the Tour for that."

McGinley is in his element, but it still remains to be seen how he copes with the enormous pressure under which he will find himself through the weekend. Forget for a moment, the huge winners cheque and ponder on how victory would put him back in the world's top 50 thus guaranteeing him an automatic place in all the majors and the world championships. In other words, untold riches - and not just in a monetary fashion.

(Gbr unless stated, par 72):

133 P Hedblom (Swe) 68 65

136 P McGinley (Irl) 72 64

137 N O'Hern (Aus) 68 69

138 P Harrington (Irl) 70 68, P Hanson (Swe) 69 69

139 M Campbell (Nzl) 71 68, P Lonard (Aus) 69 70, B Curtis (USA) 68 71, L Slattery 70 69, T Jaidee (Thai) 72 67

140 M Olander (Swe) 68 72, R Derksen (Ned) 71 69, P Broadhurst 70 70, I Poulter 71 69, R Goosen (Rsa) 70 70, D Clarke (Irl) 71 69, J Lima (Por) 67 73, J Lomas 72 68, D McGrane (Irl) 69 71, R Coles 69 71, A Cabrera (Arg) 70 70, M Fraser (Aus) 68 72

141 R Green (Aus) 71 70, J-M Olazabal (Spa) 72 69, K Ferrie 72 69, S O'Hara 69 72, A Forsyth 69 72, N Faldo 70 71, S Hansen (Den) 70 71

142 P Sjoland (Swe) 72 70, S Drummond 71 71, D Howell 70 72, G Murphy (Irl) 74 68, P Lawrie (Irl) 67 75, E Els (Rsa) 73 69, T Bjorn (Den) 71 71

143 R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 73, G McDowell (Irl) 67 76, S Dodd 69 74, S Webster 71 72, P Fulke (Swe) 74 69, S Kjeldsen (Den) 75 68, R Muntz (Ned) 74 69, S Dyson 70 73, B Dredge 75 68, L Westwood 72 71, M-A Jimenez (Spa) 70 73, L Donald 71 72, T Immelman (Rsa) 72 71, P Lawrie 73 70, A Coltart 70 73, M King 72 71, P Edwards 71 72, A Tadini (Ita) 73 70

144 D Carter 75 69, A Marshall 72 72, J Donaldson 73 71, S Henderson 72 72, S Scahill (Nzl) 71 73, T Levet (Fra) 72 72, R Sterne (Rsa) 73 71, M Siem (Ger) 70 74, D Lynn 71 73, G Storm 73 71, C Montgomerie 71 73, I Woosnam 75 69, H Stenson (Swe) 70 74, M Tunnicliff 72 72, T Johnstone (Zim) 72 72, P Fowler (Aus) 68 76, N Fasth (Swe) 71 73, P Golding 71 73

Missed the cut:

145 E Romero (Arg) 71 74, C Hanell (Swe) 71 74, W Ormsby (Aus) 68 77, G Owen 74 71, J Haeggman (Swe) 73 72, G Havret (Fra) 75 70

146 S Luna (Spa) 74 72, N Dougherty 77 69, S Torrance 74 72, G Ralph 74 72, M Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 73 73, M Brier (Aut) 71 75, B Lane 76 70, M Lafeber (Ned) 72 74, B Kennedy (Aus) 69 77

147 J Sandelin (Swe) 75 72, P O'Malley (Aus) 75 72, A Wall 74 73

148 M Mackenzie 75 73, A Hansen (Den) 74 74, J Langmead 76 72, J Kingston (Rsa) 77 71, R Gonzalez (Arg) 72 76, P Senior (Aus) 70 78

149 J-M Lara (Spa) 78 71, S Lyle 74 75, D Gilford 77 72, G Emerson 71 78, C Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 78, S Khan 74 75, G Brand Jnr 79 70, T Price (Aus) 75 74, C Rodiles (Spa) 72 77

150 J Bickerton 77 73, S Gallacher 78 72, S Wakefield 73 77, R Finch 77 73, D Clark 77 73, K Eriksson (Swe) 76 74, D Higgins (Irl) 75 75, M-A Martin (Spa) 77 73, A Oldcorn 68 82, M Maritz (Rsa) 80 70, M Foster 73 77

151 M Ford 74 77, R Russell 76 75, M Ilonen (Fin) 76 75, C Cevaer (Fra) 78 73, J Levermore 74 77, L Oosthuizen (Rsa) 73 78

152 P Walton (Irl) 75 77, C Rocca (Ita) 76 76, D Park 71 81, B Rumford (Aus) 78 74

153 F Madden 78 75, J-F Lucquin (Fra) 76 77, J-F Remesy (Fra) 75 78, C Kelly 75 78

154 L Thompson 75 79, E Canonica (Ita) 75 79, M Cayeux (Zim) 72 82

155 M Nesbit 78 77, D Prosser 79 76

156 M Roe 78 78, A George 80 76, B Davis 76 80, P Casey 78 78, I Garrido (Spa) 72 84, C Mallon (Irl) 76 80, M Wiggett 77 79

158 D Fichardt (Rsa) 75 83, P Simpson 78 80

160 T Nash 81 79

161 F Andersson Hed (Swe) 81 80

162 C Cowper 75 87

Withdrew: G Evans.