Paul McGinley earned his first notable cheque on American soil when collecting $60,000 for 23rd place on 281 in the WGC/NEC Invitational at Firestone yesterday. A sparkling final round of 67 moved the Dubliner from a share of 27th place while convincing him of his ability to compete at this level.
It was McGinley's first visit to this celebrated venue and only his fourth tournament in the US, coming after The International in 1994, the US Open at Congressional in 1997 and last week's USPGA at Valhalla. Indeed the NEC marked his first successful cut on this side of the Atlantic.
Though his putter worked better than it had done during the earlier rounds, he felt there was still considerable room for improvement. "These last two weeks have been a tremendous learning experience for me," he said afterwards. "And the point that has really been brought home to me is that I must improve my short game."
Still, he had no complaints when a 25 footer made the target for a birdie at the first. He also birdied the long second which he reached with a five wood. In fact McGinley had a total of five birdies in his round, holing putts of 12, four and three feet at the seventh, 10th and 11th.
But there were also bogeys - at the ninth when he drove into a bunker and at the short 15th where he blocked a four-iron right of the green. He is now set for a two-week holiday in Donegal.
Padraig Harrington bade farewell to his temporary caddie, Tim King, after a final round of 72 for a share of 27th place and a cheque for $44,000. This was some way short of the $109,000 he earned for a share of 12th place 12 months ago, but he was pleased to be heading for Germany last night a much fitter player than when he arrived here.
King, who normally works for the Dane, Soren Hansen, has deputised for Harrington's regular caddie since Valhalla, due to problems which Dave McNeilly encountered with the immigration authorities here. In the event, Harrington had little cause for complaint about a disappointing finish, after carding doublebogey, bogey at the third and fourth respectively through slack approach shots, one of which found water.
"It would be easy to be unhappy, but there were obviously extenuating circumstances," he said. "We golfers are not always prepared to accept the more difficult side of the game."
Meanwhile Darren Clarke birdied the 18th for a second successive day. But it was for a closing 71 and a disappointing share of 17th place, having been third after an opening 66 on Thursday. Still, there was the not inconsiderable reward of a cheque for $83,000. Afterwards he made a speedy departure from the scene, though he will not be competing in Germany this week. His next assignment is in the European Masters next week from where he goes on to the Lancome Tournament, the Belgacom Open and the German Masters. He is a past winner of the latter two events.
"I have no plans from that point onwards," he said, in a reference to the fact his wife Heather is expecting their second child during the first week in October, which happens to clash with the Cisco Matchplay Championship at Wentworth. "Everything will be on hold at that stage."
