Harrington and McGinley lead Irish challenge

PADRAIG Harrington and Paul McGinley lead the Irish challenge after rounds of two under par 70 on the opening day of the Smurfit European Open at The K-Club.

McGinley used to be the tournament professional at The K-Club and has played the new South Course a few times. However, he had never done so in the strong wind that swept across a spectacular if rather exposed piece of golfing terrain yesterday.

This is one of the reasons, he believes, why the scoring wasn't as good as might have been expected.