McGinley aims to get his game back on course

PAUL McGINLEY wore a broad grin as he strolled across the practice range waving a €50 note.

It was his winnings from the bet he placed with Sergio Garcia on the Ireland-Spain World Cup match.

Spain might have won on penalties but Garcia was so confident of the outcome he backed Spain to win in normal time. Garcia also lost the same wager to Padraig Harrington.

McGinley for his part has a bounce in his step that has been conspicuous by its recent absence. A keen footballer in his younger days before a serious knee injury intervened, he watched his beloved Dublin beat Kildare in the Leinster football final on Sunday.

That result allied to a much improved performance in the Loch Lomond Scottish Open at the weekend means he is much happier although he has one piece of advice for Dublin.

"I wish they'd place the ball for those close range frees rather than kicking them out of their hands," he said.

McGinley shot 69, 73, 68 and 69 for a six under par total of 278 at Loch Lomond, finishing in a tie for 14th worth 46,611 which improved him to 46th in the European order of merit with 262,728.

"I've had a rough four of five weeks and I've learned a good lesson," he said last night. "I had a big technical problem that I didn't address, I tried to play my way through it instead of sitting down and analysing why I was playing so poorly. I should have been working on the fundamentals of my swing before the Volvo PGA and the Benson & Hedges. Basically, I was trying to hit the ball low, got too much on my left side, had the club too much on the inside on the way back and consequently a low draw flight turned into a hook. I worked a lot with my coach Pete Cowen and actually played with a fade last week and that's unusual for me. As a result, I didn't get into any trouble.

"We had a big meeting after The K-Club missed cut, that was the final straw. I had three double bogeys in the first round when did I last do that? I sent three shots forty yards off line, I don't normally do that. I didn't have a bogey in my first 36 holes last week. My game's not where I want it to be just yet, but at least it's playable again. I feel I have a bit more control over my ball."

It helps McGinley that he has a genuine liking for the Muirfield links. He competed in his first Open here in 1992 and although he missed the cut, is satisfied that it is the fairest course on the rota.

"It's a really good test with high rough and my memories of the place surround a hole in one at the 7th," he smiled. "The pin was middle left and I holed my four iron. I don't remember a whole lot more about '92 except that I missed the cut by one. I haven't been back since but I've played all the Open courses and this is the best. It reminds me a little bit of Portmarnock in that all the holes go in different directions. I like that. There's variety, not all the way out and all the way in. You're bobbing and weaving the whole time.

"You're downwind one minute, you're right to left the next, left to right after that. On top of that, I don't like blind shots and they don't have them here while all the greens are well designed and well bunkered.

In many ways it's a shame that McGinley's confidence isn't all it might be at the moment. He loves the Open and has a decent record in the Championship. In 1996 he had another hole in one, at Lytham's 9th, and jointly led at the halfway stage.

But he isn't sure any of that will stand to him this week.

"What I'm expecting is to continue the progress I made in my golf swing last week and go forward from there," he said. "The big picture is to get my game back where it was last year. I had twelve top tens last year and only two this season. I'm just getting ready with a view to September."

McGinley has been making no secret of how important the Ryder Cup is in the scheme of things but there are few better ways or preparing for such a task than to make an impression on what he describes as his "favourite tournament".

"The competitive juices will be running, make no mistake about that. There's always a buzz at the Open. The first time, ten years ago here, I was overawed by the occasion, no point in saying otherwise. The key now, though, is to focus on what you have to do, getting the ball on the fairway, getting the ball on the green and making birdies and pars. The focus has changed from being part of a big tournament to being in the tournament and in contention."