At the end of 1999, Paul McGinley was ranked 127th in the world and consigned to an onlooker's role for some of the game's most lucrative events. Twelve months on, he has climbed to 68th and will be competing this week in the $5 million Accenture World Matchplay Championship in Melbourne, his third successive WGC event.
In an ideal golfing world, this tournament would comprise the top-64 players in the world. As far back as six weeks ago, however, McGinley had already made his travel plans, knowing he would easily get into the field due to the withdrawal of leading Americans, including Tiger Woods.
At that stage, Ireland seemed certain to have three representatives in action for the first time, including the holder, Darren Clarke. But the Tyroneman, whose wife Heather gave birth to their second child in October, withdrew before Christmas for family reasons.
"It's strange to be playing in a tournament, especially such a big one, at this time of year," said McGinley, who left his wife and two small children at their Sunningdale home last Thursday. "It was tough saying goodbye to them but Ally (his wife) knows I'm at a stage in my career where I have to play in these events when I get the chance. "In that respect, she's happy for me to be here. Mind you, having finished the World Cup in Argentina only a few weeks ago, I would love to have stayed at home for the break."
Often excessively self-critical, McGinley knows he made significant progress during Millennium Year in which he played in the British Open and USPGA Championship, before making his debut in the NEC Invitational at Firestone and the American Express Championship at Valderrama. "Prior to that it wasn't what you might call a stratospheric climb but now, getting into events like this, is the reward," he said.
Valhalla marked his first appearance in the USPGA and though he missed the cut, there was compensation a week later. Over the tight Firestone stretch, he shot a closing 67 for an aggregate of 281 to claim a $60,000 cheque for 23rd place behind Tiger Woods in an elite field.
As it happened, this was his first significant cheque in the US having previously missed the cut in The International in 1994 and the 1997 US Open at Congressional, apart from his invitation to the USPGA.
"I feel there's a lot more to come and obviously my immediate objective is to do myself justice this week. This is a great event which generated a huge amount of interest world-wide last February. Everyone remembers Darren's win and that's the mark of a great tournament.
"Still, the interest this week is not what it should be and I blame the American tour for a date and venue which do no one any good. Arrangements for these World Championship events will have to be addressed. While there is clearly a place for them in the fixture list, they cannot continue to be dominated by American legislators. As we have it, they're calling the shots without providing the players. That's very disappointing."
The Dubliner went on to claim that leading American players no longer consider the tournament to be important to their career. And he could understand the absence of Lee Westwood and Clarke insofar as it wouldn't do them a lot of good either. Then he said: "But I know Darren was disappointed at having to pull out and the Mercedes in Hawaii a week later.
"Apart from the venue and the dates, it appears that officials also have the guarantee wrong. I spoke to several Americans who were unhappy at being assured only $25,000 for Valderrama." Then he smiled: "I would stress that `only' was their word. They felt it hadn't been made worth their while to travel: that level of prize money wasn't enough.
"The one thing I would agree with them on is that the breakdown in the prize money is extremely top heavy. Mind you, at this stage of my career, world ranking points are more important to me than money.["]
McGinley called for better dates, while adding that the organisers could hardly have picked a worse venue, given Melbourne's distance from Europe and the US which provide the majority of this week's field. "They've shot themselves in the foot - on two counts," he said.
"Florida or South America, with a five or six-hour time difference, would be far more accessible. It took me two days to reach Australia, which meant leaving home last Thursday.
"Though I've been in Sydney and Perth on several occasions, this is my first visit to Melbourne. All the courses down here are of the highest standard and the Metropolitan is well up there with the best."
He went on: "In terms of the special challenge of matchplay, I think Padraig (Harrington) is the most experienced player in the field. He played three Walker Cups and six Home Internationals whereas I had only two Home Internationals and one Walker Cup." But he agreed that his seven appearances in the Dunhill Cup after amateur victories in the Irish Close (1989) and South of Ireland (1991), weren't going to hurt him.
"I'd love to say that I'm confident of doing well here but the experience of those amateur days tells me I could play great in the first round and still get dumped out," he said cautiously. "On the other hand, I could play poorly and get a run at the title. Every day is going to be a tournament in itself."
He concluded: "I'm very much looking forward to it. In fact I'm far more excited about being here for a matchplay event than I would if it were four rounds of strokeplay."
