McGinley poised to strike after patient persistence

Squally showers, a capricious wind, wet cloying rough and a golf course that could be exacting without enlisting the elements underlined the challenge that faced golfers at Carton House yesterday. It also partially explains why Paul McGinley could produce a card heavily inked in bogey blue and birdie red.

When translated into layman's terms, the Dubliner's three under par 69 left him perfectly poised for a weekend bid to capture the Nissan Irish Open. History doesn't bode well in terms of an Irish victor but that won't matter one whit. McGinley's had three top-10 finishes and twice ended up tied 11th in eight events this season so he's used to being at the business end of affairs.

His performance yesterday further illustrated his facility to sustain a challenge that could threaten to finally exorcise the ghost of John O'Leary.

He even had to contend with the ignominy of a lost ball on the par five, 15th: an Irishman playing in Ireland and with a gallery of about 100 people and no one saw the exact spot where the ball vanished into the undergrowth.

He shrugged: "It wasn't spotted. The rough is very wet and extremely penal. I wasn't that far off the fairway but it wasn't spotted by the marshals. In wet rough the ball goes in and buries. It doesn't bounce, just weaves its way in and the grass covers."

The fruitless search was compounded by McGinley's assertion that the marshals had him searching in the wrong bush, a fact later supported by television evidence. He was a little bit miffed but eventually philosophical.

Having explained the vagaries of the lesser spotted Titleist, McGinley then turned his attention to the demands that the venue imposed conceding: "I would not say I definitely remained patient but reasonably patient.

"This is a golf course that makes you get back in the present very quickly because it really can get to you. I heard some of the guys saying that they shot 75, 76 and played well. You can easily play pretty good out there and shoot 75. There's potential for disaster on every hole out there."

McGinley couldn't have had a figure in his mind for most of the round because his circumstances vacillated so sharply. Three birdies in succession from the 12th to the 14th holes - he started on the 10th tee - suggested great things but the momentum was quickly dispelled with a double bogey seven at the 15th, courtesy of the lost ball.

When he bogeyed the 17th and first, putting frailties the culprit, he could easily have lost control but instead four birdies in the next eight holes rescued the round and propelled him into contention. His mindset is positive but he's still driven by the need to close out a tournament, a feeling he'd love to rediscover. He's very much a lapsed winner.

"I'd hoped to have a win by now because it's been a while. I need to get back in the winner's circle quite soon."

In fact he would do well to try to emulate the two soccer teams that are dear to his heart Glasgow Celtic and West Ham.

On Sunday, Celtic hope to claim the Scottish Premier Division when they seek a win in their final game away to Motherwell while the following Monday week, the Hammers will meet Preston North End for a place in next season's English Premiership, a game the Irishman hopes to attend.

How appropriate if McGinley could make it a red-letter day (at least on the scoreboard) this Sunday by claiming the Irish Open while Celtic confirm their end of the bargain.