Euros are undervalued, claims McGinley

EUROPEAN captain Bernhard Langer was very happy to use the world rankings in installing the US as favourites in the build-up to the Ryder Cup.

His American counterpart Hal Sutton tried all he could to counter what he saw as a piece of cunning propaganda by his opposite number, but the figures spoke for themselves and he had to give way.

However, when it was all over, Sutton revisited the issue and made some fairly scathing comments about the ranking system, pointing not only to the decisive nature of the European victory but to the few American successes on their own circuit and further afield this year. And now that the dust has settled on Oakland Hills, the Europeans are making similar noises with Paul McGinley, one of their most articulate members, pressing the point forcibly at Mount Juliet over the weekend.

“The system is heavily loaded in favour of the Americans,” he insists. “We are undervalued. There’s a meeting next week of the rankings committee. I have spoken to Tony Greer from IMG who runs it and asked him what was happening. He agreed there was a lobby for the Europeans. It’s not just that we won the Ryder Cup by so much but that we won four of the last five.

“Now, I don’t think we should be equated with the Americans but I think the gap should be closer. Because the leading guys are playing in America, it’s top heavy and the Americans get all the points. It’s self-perpetuating and it’s hard for the Europeans to come through. Hal Sutton made a big thing about it at his press conference after the Ryder Cup.

“You just have to look at the scoring on the European Tour and the standard of golf and how well the guys are playing. The European Tour is certainly undervalued for world ranking points.”

McGinley is now 65th in the rankings and is desperately chasing enough points to get to 50th by the end of the year so as to qualify for the major championships in 2005. He has 2.01 points to his credit as against the 2. 41 of Stephen Leaney, the man in 50th place. That is a relatively narrow gap but as Paul himself sees the situation: “I need a big finish, it’s a bit like the Ryder Cup situation, if I play well, I’ll make it, if I don’t, I won’t.”

He will be out of action for two months during the winter because of an operation to his left knee that he has been putting on the long finger.

He has a cyst that needs to be removed to prevent locking. “The day after the Ryder Cup, I could hardly walk,” he revealed. “I knelt down for a photograph at Heathrow and it completely locked and I couldn’t get up. So I’ve been very lucky.”

He starts the top 50 campaign this week at the 3. 5 million Dunhill Links Championship to be played over St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns where Pádraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie, Gary Murphy and Damien McGrane will also be in action. After the World Cup next month, he will play a tournament in Korea and then undergo the surgery on his knee. Harrington, winner of the Dunhill in 2002, admits to being mentally tired and in need of a rest and relishes the thought of a couple of weeks off after St Andrews.

“I’m happy with the way things are going even, though I’d like to be a little stronger mentally,” he says. “My mind didn’t stay focused at all in the final round at Mount Juliet so it was a fair achievement to get away with the score I shot. The best thing about last week is that Thomas Bjorn got his game back. He’s a very good friend and I’m delighted. The better Thomas plays the better I have to play because we push each other along.”

Harrington has already qualified for the lucrative and prestigious Tour Championship in the States in the first week of November but all he will say for the moment is that it is on his schedule. There is a difficulty there because to do so, he would have to take up full membership of the US Tour in 2005. That in turn would entail playing 15 counting tournaments, three more than this year and to do so would mean eliminating three from his European and worldwide programme next year.

“As you become a more high profile player, you have more opportunities to play around the world,” he reasoned.

“I had intended to play the Tour Championship but looking at the schedule for next year, it’s difficult. The Irish Open is back in May at a time when there are three lovely tournaments in the States that would have suited me. So I just don’t know ...”

Current world rankings: 1st Vijay Singh 14. 14; 2nd Ernie Els 12. 48; 3rd Tiger Woods 11.54; 4th Phil Mickelson 8. 55; 5th Retief Goosen 7. 26; 6th Davis Love 111 7. 04; 7th Mike Weir 6. 77; 8th Padraig Harrington 5. 98; 9th Stewart Cink 5. 33; 10th Sergio Garcia 4. 96. Also 13th Darren Clarke 4. 64; 65th Paul McGinley; 91st Graeme McDowell 1. 58.