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.

"It's a very fair and good test of golf", he claimed. "I've played pretty steadily since returning from injury. I've just got to be patient and wait for my week. The Ryder Cup is in my mind but I've a long way to go. I'd need to double my current money (which stands at €347, 587) and of course I would love to make it. I know from experience that pushing it and getting frustrated isn't going to help. This could be the week. Who knows? Look at Remesy in Paris. It was his week. With the standard nowadays, you have to play so well on Tour. I feel I've played great in a number of tournaments and still finished only 6th or 7th."

Having qualified for the Open by shooting a second round of 65 at Sunningdale on Monday, McGinley picked up where he left off there with a lovely five iron to eight feet behind the hole at the short 2nd for the first of his four birdies. A sand wedge approach to the 4th hit the flag and he again found the target from just under three yards. The long 6th was on in two but he knocked his drive in a lake in the middle of a fierce downpour and ran up a six to be out in 35.

He hit the long 10th in two and had another gain at the 11th with a pitch to a couple of feet. He pulled his approach to the 16th to drop a shot but he wasn't complaining: "Sure, I made mistakes. I made a few decisions I would change when playing the course again and I'm sure everybody feels the same."

The presence this week of his coach Bob Torrance appears to have had a settling and positive effect on Padraig Harrington, who has been unhappy with the state of his swing. He reported that he hit the ball "lovely" and four of his five birdies were tap-ins.

However, Harrington pointed out that the 1st (his 10th) was the "most pivotal and important of the entire round." He said: "I was just coming off missing an eight footer for birdie on the 18th and after driving into the rough, was left with another putt from a similar distance for par.

His opening nine was a scrappy enough affair with birdies at 10 and 15 offset by mistakes at the 11th, 12th and 16th, where he drove into one of the lakes. As for the way the course was set up, Harrington had no problems.

"They did what they needed to do", he claimed. "The course is an unknown quantity and I feel they got it right. They were cautious with the pin positions and tee boxes. Five under is leading and that's a good reflection. We can't always play easy courses." However, Darren Clarke's troubles continue. He opted for the belly putter on this occasion but admitted that "it was no better or no worse" as he soared to a 76 that included a double bogey at the 6th and a triple at the 16th where he bladed a bunker recovery into a lake. Fellow Ulsterman Graeme McDowell also struggled to a 76. Peter Lawrie returned to form with a commendable even par round of 72 and Irish PGA Region members John Dwyer and Neil Manchip had reason to be proud of their 73s.