Paul McGinley has been forced to withdraw from the Nissan Irish Open at Carton House and has checked himself in to the Cappagh Hospital in Dublin for minor surgery on a troublesome left knee.

The Dubliner's decision to go ahead with the operation came after he consulted his surgeon in the UK. It also means he will miss next week's BMW Championship at Wentworth, where he agonisingly finished runner-up to Argentina's Angel Cabrera last year.

Taking a longer-term assessment of the situation, this injury raises serious questions marks about McGinley's ability to qualify for the Ryder Cup in September. Although it's not certain how long the injury will rule the 39-year-old out for, being sidelined will certainly dent his pursuit of a place on Ian Woosnam's team. He is currently seventh in the European standings.

"I have been having problems in my knee for some time now and the discomfort had increased to the extent that it was affecting my ability to play shots," said McGinley.

The operation, under general anesthetic, is to remove a piece of broken bone in his knee. It will be carried out by Ray Moran, brother of former Ireland and Manchester United footballer Kevin Moran. McGinley was six over par for 13 holes when play was suspended.

McGinley's journey to a place at the last Ryder Cup wasn't a smooth one either as the affable Dubliner was sidelined for month's with an injury to the same knee. Back then he also had to undergo surgery and was sidelined for months before showing late form and racing into a place on Bernhard Langer's team.

McGinley's name has also been has been drawn into a situation today, arising from one of his playing partners, Kenneth Ferrie, incurring a two-shot penalty en route to a quadruple bogey eight at the 14th, his fifth.

Due to the conditions Ferrie's ball moved on the green. He then asked advice from his playing partners, McGinley and Ian Poulter, to see if he could move the ball back to its original position. Ferrie moved the ball and completed the hole in a double-bogey six before finding out he incurred a two-shot penalty for incorrectly replacing the ball.

"I understand that some newspapers may infer that I have accused Paul McGinley of gamesmanship. While Paul did, in fact, advise me that I could replace my ball on the 14th - which I later realised was inaccurate - at no time did I suggest that Paul acted improperly as his integrity is beyond question," said Ferrie in a statement.

McGinley responded by saying: "I am extremely sorry that my playing partner Kenneth Ferrie incurred a two-shot penalty after asking myself and Ian Poulter what should be done when his ball moved on a green. We gave out opinions in good faith and I am not going to dignify any accusations of gamesmanship on my behalf as they are totally groundless."

When play finally resumed at 5.40pm following the six-hour delay - due to high winds in the morning followed by the threat of thunder storms in the afternoon - ironically benign evening conditions meant birdies finally emerged on the leaderboard.

A round of 71 places tournament favourite Padraig Harrington two shots off the overnight lead held Spain's Ignacio Garrido, though the latter has completed just six holes.  Having benefitted from the milder conditions this evening David Higgins made an impressive start and is one ahead of Harrington after a flawless opening seven holes that included birdies on the 13th and 15th.

The English trio of Iain Pyman, Andrew Marshall and Tom Whitehouse join Higgins on two under. Crucially however, out of the quartet, only Pyman has completed his first round

"I'm obviously pleased with the score and glad to have finished the last five holes after the delay in level par," said Harrington after 12 long hours at the venue. He then went on to joke about the conditions. "Have I played in worse conditions? Many times, you'd be playing 36-holes at Rosses Point in this weather and think nothing of it," he said referring to his amateur days.

"On tour the worst conditions we played in were the six holes at the Open in Muirfield. That will never be matched, they were life threatening!"

Play is due to restart at 7.30am tomorrow starting with those in the field still to complete their first round, weather permitting of course.