McGinley facing enforced lay-off

The biggest victory of Paul McGinley’s golf career was followed today by a trip to hospital – and it could result in the Dubliner being out of action for two months.

The 38-year-old revealed after his two-stroke triumph over Sergio Garcia at the Volvo Masters in Spain – his first win for four years – he faces the possibility of surgery on his knee for the second season in a row.

“I’ve got an appointment for a scan,” said the Irishman. “It’s been bothering me. It returned this week after six weeks of being pain-free and it looks like I’m going to have to have an operation.”

That will not happen, however, until after a trip to Shanghai next week for the HSBC Champions Tournament and the following week’s World Cup in Portugal, where he partners Padraig Harrington.

“This win gives me a bit of leeway in that if I do do it I will not have to rush back like I did last time,” added the Irishman.

McGinley, £450,000 (€663,000) richer, moved to third place in the Ryder Cup points race behind Garcia and Colin Montgomerie and, with over £1.5m (€2.2m), to a best-ever third in the Order of Merit behind winner Montgomerie and New Zealand’s Michael Campbell.

Europe’s match-winner at The Belfry in 2002 and unbeaten last year in Detroit, he is on course to earn a third cup cap next September – in the first-ever match on Irish soil at the K Club near his home city.

After receiving a call of congratulations from Irish president Mary McAleese, he said: “I am absolutely so pleased to win a title of this size and to do it in the style I did.

“You can’t compare this with winning the Ryder Cup or winning the World Cup with Padraig Harrington. This is selfish – this is for Paul McGinley.”

Amazingly, he had a double bogey and triple bogey in his first seven holes last Thursday, was nine behind Montgomerie at halfway, but did not have a bogey in his final 53 holes.

The victory followed three crushing near-misses this season – to Angel Cabrera in the BMW Championship, Tiger Woods in the NEC world championship and then Campbell in the final of the HSBC World Match Play at Wentworth with £1m (€1.46m) up for grabs.

“Those three really hurt me – I was absolutely devastated after losing to Michael,” he said.

“But I put a lot of what happened in those losses into practice and that I was able to do it means a huge, huge, huge amount to me.

“There’s a skill, a knack, to winning and it’s just taken me longer to learn than most people.

“I really felt I could win a big one because I knew the quality of my golf had come up a level. I had to move up mentally to the level my game is at.

“At Wentworth I felt I played the best golf that week, but didn’t in the final. The question was why and I feel I’ve got to the bottom of that.”