A couple of weeks ago, Paul McGinley was handed a present by his neighbour Darren Clarke that could yet provide the impetus that leads to a Ryder Cup place come September. The gift was a book on putting by the noted American sports psychologist Bob Rotella - mind guru to both Clarke and Padraig Harrington - and was given to the Dubliner in an attempt to improve that area of his game.
"Putting is such an important part of the game. It's not a strong part of my game, but it's not a weak part either. I've spent a lot of time with Darren and he talks about it. Nobody gives him any credit for his putting, it is magnificent. That's why he's number nine in the world. It's a game of aggression nowadays and you have got to play very aggressively and make lots of birdies. It is something I have to improve on," said McGinley.
In fact, the player's own feelings on the subject are backed up by the statistics. Although he is number seven in the statistics for "greens in regulation" on the European Tour, he is only placed 49th in the "puttsper-greens in regulation" category, which implies that McGinley is leaving a lot of putts out on the course.
Yet, he is moving in the right direction. McGinley's runners-up position behind rookie Henrik Stenson in the International Open at The Belfry moved him up 11 places in the world rankings to 66th, which strengthens his position with regard to earning a place in the US PGA championship in August. In recent years, the top-100 players in the world rankings have played in the season-ending major. In terms of securing that coveted Ryder Cup place, participation in the majors, with their huge prize funds, could make all the difference in achieving that goal.
However, McGinley still has to play his way into the field for next month's US Open at Southern Hills in Tulsa. If he is to join Clarke and Harrington in that second major of the season, then McGinley needs to maintain his Belfry form over the next few big-money weeks - he is playing in the TPC of Europe in Heidelberg this week and next week's £2 million Volvo PGA at Wentworth - as any player ranked in the top-50 in the world on May 31st, who is not already qualified, will receive an invite. While that US Open berth is an immediate aim for McGinley, who has had four top-10 finishes in nine starts on the tour this season, a longer term goal is achieving a place on the Ryder Cup team.
"It is all about building bricks and taking lots of steps, but it is definitely at the back of my mind. I probably need to double my points total, maybe do even more than that, to make it," insists McGinley, who has climbed to eighth position in the European qualifying table. "Playing in the Ryder Cup is something I have always wanted to do. I have always been a good team player, going back to my days playing Gaelic football, and in the Walker Cup as an amateur and then in the Dunhill and World Cups."
McGinley's credentials in that regard cannot be questioned. What he needs to do to dramatically improve his world ranking, however, is to actually win a tournament. He hasn't won since the Oki Pro-Am in Spain four years ago gave him his second tour title (although he did partner Harrington to team success in the World Cup, also in 1997, which was then an "approved special event") and Sunday's second place finish was the seventh of his career.
"I'm not going to put any pressure on myself as far as when the next win is going to be. There is a very long summer ahead, and it doesn't have to be next week. I intend to just focus on the next two tournaments and take it from there. I'm also closing in on that US Open spot and what really counts is to get a couple of big finishes," he said.
McGinley is part of a strong Irish contingent that is playing in the TPC of Europe. Also participating are Clarke, Harrington, David Higgins, Ronan Rafferty, Des Smyth and Eamonn Darcy, who has received sponsor's invites to both the TPC and next week's Volvo Masters.
