US TOUR: Paul McGinley could empathise with the sentiments of Scottish poet Robbie Burns when, last weekend, he saw his well-laid plans for tournament action in the US this month "gang aft a-gley". It meant that instead of flying out to California last Saturday, the Dubliner was heading for South Africa last night.

McGinley was bitterly disappointed that his plan to compete in seven US tournaments by way of preparation for a debut appearance in the US Masters, should have been scuppered. "I'm especially disappointed not to have got an invitation to the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines, which was my home course when I attended San Diego University," he said yesterday.

It seems that there is many a slip between verbal promises of invitations from the USPGA Tour and actual confirmation in writing. McGinley believed what he heard.

So it was that he made plans to play in this week's Bob Hope Classic, followed by the Phoenix Open, AT&T Pro-Am, Buick, Nissan Open and then the Accenture Matchplay Championship at La Costa, another course with which he is familiar. As it happened, invitations to Phoenix, the Buick and the Nissan Open never materialised.

"I'm still going out to the States, but for a total of five tournaments rather than the eight I had expected," he added. "In the meantime, however, I've turned to South Africa for the tournament play that I need to get my game into the desired shape." He will be competing in the Dunhill Tournament this week, followed by a week off.

Then he plays the Dimension Data Pro-Am in which colleague, Darren Clarke, will be defending the title. After that, he will take a two-week break before heading for La Costa, unless a slot becomes available in the Nissan at Riviera the previous week.

"I could have got into the Bob Hope and the AT&T, but I wanted a run of events," he added. "That was the only way the West Coast Swing made sense, from my standpoint." There is also the fact that the 90-hole Bob Hope event is played on four different courses in the Palm Springs area while the AT&T also had a pro-am format over three courses.