TOUR NEWS:THERE'S AN old schoolyard jibe that may not be politically correct in this day and age but, which, nevertheless has a semblance of truth. "If you start it, you finish it!" Unfortunately for Paul McGinley, his failure to finish out what he started in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth means, not for the first time in his career, that he again faces another test of character.

The recuperation period is a short one. McGinley resumes tournament play in the Wales Open at Celtic Manor - over the new-look, renamed "Twenty-Ten" course that plays host to the Ryder Cup in 2010 - on Thursday, although it will only be after a two-day period of self-reflection that won't involve going near a golf club.

While Miguel-Angel Jimenez's win moved him to the top of the European Ryder Cup list, all but assuring him of a ticket to Valhalla in September for Nick Faldo's team, McGinley - who last year accepted and then rejected a place at Faldo's top table as a vice-captain so that he could attempt to play his way onto the team - makes the trip to Wales tomorrow knowing he still has a long road to travel to automatically make the team.

First and foremost in his mind, however, will be to work out what went wrong over the weekend where he relinquished a four-shot midway lead to eventually finish some five shots adrift of Jimenez and runner-up Oliver Wilson, who despite losing out in a play-off to the Spaniard was compensated by the fact he moved into the world's top-50 and earned exemptions into next month's US Open at Torrey Pines and also July's British Open at Royal Birkdale.

Indeed, there was also good news for Graeme McDowell and Damien McGrane who, along with Irish Open champion Richard Finch, earned exemptions into the British Open off a current form mini-order of merit qualifying that concluded after the BMW.

It means there are definitely three Irish players confirmed for Birkdale - with defending champion Pádraig Harrington actually playing the links today - while others will attempt to join them, either off a second mini-list that concludes with the French Open or through pre-qualifying.

Nobody needs to tell McGinley that he missed out on a big opportunity last weekend, his mind in the immediate aftermath struggling to work out exactly what went wrong.

"There is a lesson in there. I haven't quite come to the bottom of it yet, but one of them is definitely playing in the wind . . . something I missed on in my preparations was wind shots. That's the only conclusion I can come to," argued McGinley, who, despite being brought up playing in windy conditions, pointed out that the weather on tour so far this season has been so good he hadn't actually encountered such wind conditions since playing the Qatar Masters in February.

"My wind shots (at Wentworth) were very poor. It's normally the strongest part of my game. I'm very strong in the wind normally. I like those conditions."

Continuing on the wind theory, McGinley insisted there is "so much feel involved . . . I was hitting (shots) with my right shoulder. I knew what I was doing and it is so hard to fix your golf swing in the middle of a tournament."

Rather than focus on the negatives, McGinley would obviously prefer to head to the Wales Open - where he is part of a strong Irish contingent that also includes Harrington, McGrane, McDowell, Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie, Gary Murphy and Rory McIlroy - working on the positives that actually got him into such a strong midway position in the PGA.

Describing his 10th-place finish as "a body blow", McGinley said he would be taking two days off "to recover, to analyse what's gone on. I've to think about it, have a rest and get away from it . . . I'll regroup and then go at it again (in Wales) . . . . I do believe I am making good progress "

Among the significant moves made in Europe's Ryder Cup qualifying lists after Wentworth were that Jimenez moved to the top of the European qualifying list, while Harrington has dropped out of an automatic place. He is down to seventh on the world points list.

As things stand, the only Irish player in an automatic qualifying position is Graeme McDowell, who currently occupies the last place off the European points list.

The qualifying campaign concludes with the Johnnie Walker championship at Gleneagles in late August.

Jimenez, who has moved up 20 places to 21st in the latest official world rankings after his win at Wentworth, is now virtually assured of his place on the team having missed out at The K Club two years ago.

The 44-year-old Spaniard - who was Seve Ballesteros' vice-captain at Valderrama in 1997 subsequently played on the losing team at Brookline in 1999 and the winning team at Oakland Hills in Detroit in 2004 - has vowed to give "120 per cent" if he is part of the team.

After his win on Sunday evening, Jimenez revealed he had spoken briefly to the European captain at Wentworth.

"I'm very calm, very experienced. I think Nick Faldo will be very pleased. I told him the other day 'I hope I can be in your team' and he said, 'I hope so too'. I am a player who can fit with anyone and one thing is guaranteed - I am going to give it 120 per cent."

Meanwhile, Peter Lawrie just missed out on an exemption to the British Open at Birkdale, but still has his name entered for next Monday's US Open international qualifying at Walton Heath, outside London. Lawrie won't make a final decision on whether to attempt to qualify until he plays in the Wales Open.