McGinley refuses to count chickens in Ryder Cup race

THE coveted prize is within Paul McGinley’s grasp but he refuses to accept that the Ryder Cup place is actually his until the last putt is holed in Munich tomorrow night.

McGinley shot an admirable four under par 68 in yesterday’s second round of the BMW International to move to six under par overall and into a share of 11th place. Having entered the tournament in possession of the 10th and last automatic spot in the side to face the US at Oakland Hills on September 17-19, he has strengthened his position considerably, even if Swedes Freddy Jacobson and Joakim Haeggman and France’s Raphael Jacquelin remain a threat.

It was a good day for the European cause with Miguel Angel Jimenez, already guaranteed his place, roaring to the top of the leaderboard with a 66 for 10 under, one ahead of England’s David Lynn and South Africa’s US Open champion Retief Goosen, while other team members like Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood and Thomas Levet, who was round in 65, and contenders for automatic inclusion or a “wild card” selection from Bernhard Langer like Paul Casey, Ian Poulter, McGinley and Colin Montgomerie, also performed impressively.