McGinley recovers, reflects ahead of 2005 rebirth

LAID up as he currently is after an operation on his left knee, Paul McGinley has plenty of time to reflect on 2004.

The Sunningdale-based Dubliner, 37, agrees that “any year in which you are a member of a successful European Ryder Cup side, especially in America, has to be very special”, but he claims his campaign was also littered with disappointments.

Chief among them was his failure to win a tournament in spite of some near-misses and he is particularly hard on himself where his performances in the major championships and big money events are concerned.

He didn’t qualify to play in the Masters or the US Open and missed the cut in the Open Championship, before coming good with a sixth place finish in the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. That achievement, coupled with runner-up spots in the Dubai Desert Classic and the Dutch Open, were crucial in earning McGinley his coveted place in the Ryder Cup team, one he fully deserved and justified by contributing 2½ points out of three to the European cause at Oakland Hills.

“I just didn’t perform in the big money tournaments,” he says.

“Missing the cut in the Open was bad enough but to also do so in the Volvo PGA, the Smurfit European Open, the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond and the German Masters was a killer. That’s why I finished as low as 22nd in the order of merit. I feel I’m a better player than that.”

However, Paul is much happier when the conversation switches to the Ryder Cup. Throughout the summer he had fought a long rearguard battle to make the side and you wouldn’t have put a penny on him to do so after his failure in the Open at Troon.

It’s funny, he muses, how one good round can change everything, pointing to the 66 he shot at Baltray on the Saturday of the Nissan Irish Open.

He believes it changed his mental approach in a positive way.

He went on to finish fifth that week before deciding to play in everything possible in an all-out bid to force his way on to the plane for Detroit.

He came 20th the following week in Scandinavia, second in the Netherlands, sixth in the US PGA (“that also made a huge difference and convinced me I should be in the side”) before clinching it with a gritty sixth place finish in the decisive BMW International in Munich. Having hit his second shot to the 72nd green into a water hazard, he had to get up and down from an awkward distance and angle to clinch his place. He chipped to four feet and tapped in.

In doing so, McGinley showed he had what it took for success at Oakland Hills. He duly halved his fourball on the first day with Luke Donald against Chris Riley and Stewart Cink; recovered from losing the first two holes to help Padraig Harrington to a smashing 4 and 3 foursomes thrashing of Tiger Woods and Davis Love III in the second series of foursomes before seeing off Cink by 3 and 2 in the singles.

Captain Bernhard Langer placed the Irishman in the anchor role that afternoon, mindful of the impressive manner in which he finished off the job two years earlier at The Belfry.

Quite rightly, Paul regarded Langer’s decision as a huge vote of confidence and is another good reason why he celebrated so animatedly with his teammates and hordes of Irish fans at the end of a memorable day.

“That was a very emotional experience and here we are, three months later, still talking about it,” he glows.

“As I’ve always said, I love any team environment, no matter what sport it is, and the spirit that week at Oakland Hills was something none of us will ever forget. Now though, we must look ahead.

“Obviously I’d love to be a member of the team in Ireland in 2006 but it’s getting tougher and tougher because of the way the standard is increasing all the time. Still, as things stand now, there is every chance of four of us, Padraig, Darren [Clarke] and Graeme McDowell making it and there could be others coming through by then as well. It would be some achievement for four Irishmen to be there.

“The Ryder Cup is definitely the third biggest sporting event in the world today after the Olympics and the soccer World Cup. Ireland is very privileged to be the host country. It’s all down to the history of all the great Irish golfers of the past, not just Darren, Padraig and myself. We’re only riding on the backs of those who went before, people like Fred Daly, Harry Bradshaw, the two Christy O’Connors, Eamonn Darcy, Des Smyth and all the others.

“The foresight of Michael Smurfit in building such a magnificent facility at The K-Club was also crucial. I’m fully satisfied that Ireland will put on a show that earns the admiration of everybody. We have a wonderful record in that respect, the Special Olympics was a classic example. I was abroad at the time but got the video and what I saw made me very proud of being Irish.”

McGinley underwent his second knee operation of 2004 at the end of November and reports quicker than expected progress. His surgeon is surprised at how well he is recuperating due to the extent of the damage.

All the indications are that he was lucky to get through the campaign without breaking down.

“I’m ahead of schedule and still have an outside chance of returning for the South African Open starting on January 15,” he says.

“That would help to blow the cobwebs away although I probably won’t make it because I’ll only be back hitting balls on the previous week. It’s more likely my first tournament will be AT&T Classic at Pebble Beach at the beginning of February.

“I qualify for that as a Ryder Cup player. Reports that I’m playing the New Zealand Open in the same week are incorrect. My aim at Pebble is to make enough points to get into the world’s top 64 - I’m currently 68th - and so qualify for the Accenture Match Play Championship.

“That would slot in nicely between the Malaysian Open and Dubai.

“In turn I’d be in a position to force my way into the top 50 by the end of March and so qualify for the Masters.”

You see, there’s always something for these guys to aspire to.

And you sense that after all he did to make the Ryder Cup team in 2004, what Paul McGinley is aspiring to in ’05 will be mere chicken feed!