McGinley policy pays off

GOLF/News: Another generation ago, when Paul McGinley was in school on Dublin's southside, he read a magazine interview with his all-time sporting hero Tom Watson. In the piece, the five-time British Open champion referred to the qualities - "desire, drive, determination and a little bit of talent" - that had brought him success, and McGinley scribbled them onto the back of a jotter.

Those same words have provided him with the inspiration to succeed as a professional golfer. "I have always been a slow learner, in everything I have done," he confessed.

"As an amateur, I didn't burst onto the scene. I was pottering around playing football and it took me three years to make the Irish team, and a while longer to make the Walker Cup.

"The tour has been the same. It has been a steady increase. I wish I was the opposite . . . but I have never been able to do that, it has always been a gradual progression."

Yesterday, on a flying visit to his home town, the reason for McGinley's presence provided further evidence that he has been a good, if slow, learner: he was on the fourth floor of the Allianz offices to sign a three-year contract which makes the insurance company his principal corporate sponsor.

McGinley, you see, is very much a wanted man. He also has deals with Taylor Made (clubs), Dunhill (clothing), Adidas (shoes), Bupa and the K Club. It's a good time to be a world class golfer, and Irish too.

Not only does professional golf have a clean-cut image, but Ireland's status in the sport has never been higher. If you take each country's top-three players on the world rankings, only the US rank better than the Irish trio of McGinley, Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington.

And, while the deferred debut appearance in the Ryder Cup next September is what he is most looking forward to, McGinley will tell you that it is not so much the majors that also excite him, but the fact that there are four big-time tournaments to be played in Ireland this year: the Seve Ballesteros Trophy, the Irish Open, the European Open and the AmEx world championship.

McGinley put so much effort into securing his Ryder Cup place that the winter was spent far away from golf courses. "I needed to fall off the planet, to get away from it all," he said.

Instead, time was spent working on weights in the gym and running, as well as the odd trip to see his two favourite soccer teams, Celtic and West Ham.

He also indulged in that favourite pastime of professionals, analysing his statistics: looking at performances in tournaments over the past five years.

And, although there were times last year when he felt physically and mentally tired in pursuit of that Ryder Cup spot, this year's schedule won't involve such long stretches of tournament play.

In fact, his season-opening appearance in the Bob Hope Classic in California next week will mark a serious departure in McGinley's approach. He plans to play in eight events in the US - Bob Hope, Phoenix Open, Buick Invitational, Nissan Open, Accenture Matchplay, Bay Hill, the Player's Championship and the US Masters - before playing in the Seve Ballesteros Trophy at Druids Glen. His appearance in the Benson and Hedges International at the Belfry in May will be his first tournament of the season in Europe.

"It is a big gamble," he conceded, "a big risk. They are serious tournaments . . . I am going in very much at the deep end but that is exciting.

"The biggest drawback in planning so much in America in the early part of the year is how it affects the family. That is the most difficult part of playing golf.

"However, I feel the time is right to do this. Last year I set myself goals to make the Ryder Cup and to get into the top-50 in the world - and I have set new goals this year. I want to keep improving (he's 35th in the world currently) and maintain the solid foundation that I have.

"There are still improvements to be made. Not so much technically, more mentally and in my course management and how I manage myself off the course."

It seems he is still learning, which - on past evidence - is no harm at all.