OPEN DE ANDALUCIAN:NEVER MIND being in contention heading into the weekend of a European Tour event, Paul McGinley must be glad simply to be back and able to swing a club. After returning from a sixth bout of knee surgery, the Dubliner is firmly in the mix at the halfway stage of the €1 million Andalucian Open in Malaga

McGinley’s problematic knee is well documented and was last operated on in November. He returned to action in Morocco last week but couldn’t keep pace with winner Rhys Davies from Wales and missed the cut with rounds of 76, 71.

This week at the Parador club, however, the Ryder Cup hero – who has dropped to 258th in the world rankings – upped his game with rounds of 68, 66 to get to six under and within striking distance of the leaders.

McGinley enjoyed two halves of 33, with an eagle three at the par-five 14th the highlight of the inward run. Though shots were dropped at the sixth and 12th, he also enjoyed four birdies.

The 43-year-old is four off the pace set by South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen and England’s Sam Hutsby, whose matching 63s left them on 10 under.

Earlier in the day rookie James Morrison also shot 63 in a round containing just 19 putts, which left the Englishman alongside McGinley in a group tied for ninth.

The trio of 63s weren’t even the low rounds of the day, for less than an hour after Morrison’s round, compatriot Paul Waring lowered it by one to get to four under.

Defending champion Soren Kjeldsen (67) is third outright on eight under. The Dane is hoping to become the first player to make a successful defence of a tour title since Pádraig Harrington’s British Open wins in 2007 and 2008.

McGinley was easily the best of the nine-strong Irish contingent in Malaga, with Gareth Maybin next on three under after the Ballyclare professional shot 67.

His fellow northerners Darren Clarke (68) and Michael Hoey (69) were a shot further back on two under.

Irish Open champion Shane Lowry and Qualifying School graduate Simon Thornton made it safely into the weekend after respective rounds of 67, 70 left the pair on one under, alongside the tournament host, Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez (68).

Peter Lawrie (72) and Gary Murphy (71) scraped in on the cut mark which dropped to level par late in the afternoon.

It meant Damien McGrane was the only Irish player to miss the cut, for despite a rallying 68 he missed by one.

While Oosthuizen came into this week’s event in form after finishing runner-up in Morocco, Hutsby’s professional career is in its infancy. In fact, he could easily have been preparing for the Masters as an amateur rather than playing in Spain this week.

The 21-year-old reached the final of the British Amateur last June before losing to 16-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero, who in two weeks will become the youngest player to compete at Augusta.

Hutsby opted to join the paid ranks after last September’s Walker Cup and went on to secure his tour card by finishing second at Qualifying School.

Oosthuizen will be hoping to land this week’s €166,660 winner’s cheque to have any chance of securing a place at Augusta by climbing into the world’s top-50 by Monday, while Hutsby was simply glad to play so well through a cold. “I woke up quite a few times in the night, have a sore throat and am really bunged up, but that round has made me feel better,” said Hutsby, who coincidentally has the number 63 stamped on all his golf balls, wedges and bag as it was the previous low round of his career.

Oosthuizen managed an eagle and seven birdies in his round, but he was reeled back somewhat after a double-bogey six at the 409-yard seventh where he drove it out of bounds. “I had to regroup a bit after that. I was a bit loose with my irons, but I sorted something out on the range,” said the 27-year-old after his round.

Open de Andalucia (Parador de Malaga)

(Players who made the cut, Irish in bold, British unless stated)

130 – S Hutsby 67 63, L Oosthuizen (Rsa) 67 63.

132 – S Kjeldsen (Den) 65 67.

133 – G Canizares (Spa) 69 64, RJ Derksen (Ned) 68 65, P Whiteford 69 64, P Lawrie 65 68, R Finch 68 65.

134 – R Coles 69 65, M Brown (Nzl) 66 68, G Fdez-Castano (Spa) 68 66, Paul McGinley 68 66, J Morrison 71 63.

135 – J Luiten (Ned) 66 69, F Delamontagne (Fra) 68 67, J Guerrier (Fra) 66 69.

136 – C Del Moral (Spa) 68 68, F Molinari (Ita) 68 68, R Bland 68 68, G Orr 68 68, P Waring 74 62, P Larrazabal (Spa) 72 64, G Lockerbie 69 67, J Donaldson 67 69, A Canete (Arg) 68 68, B Dredge 66 70.

137 – John Parry 68 69, S Webster 71 66, Gareth Maybin 70 67, D Lynn 67 70, A Wall 68 69, J-F Lima (Por) 71 66, D Vancsik (Arg) 66 71, M Ruiz (Par) 70 67, MF Haastrup (Den) 69 68, S Gallacher 67 70, M Jonzon (Swe) 69 68, G Bourdy (Fra) 72 65, S Luna (Spa) 73 64, Michael Hoey 69 69.

138 – J Huldahl (Den) 67 71, D Howell 69 69, S Jeppesen (Swe) 71 67, Darren Clarke 70 68, F Aguilar (Chi) 69 69, J Elson 70 68, S Gross Jnr (Ger) 70 68, D Whitnell 68 70, J-F Lucquin (Fra) 67 71, R Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 70, L Gagli (Ita) 71 67.

139 – J-B Gonnet (Fra) 70 69, T Aiken (Rsa) 70 69, R Rock 68 71, D Drysdale 71 68, S Dodd 73 66, M Warren 71 68, MA Martin (Spa) 72 67, MA Jimenez (Spa) 71 68, Shane Lowry 72 67, I Garrido (Spa) 66 73, B Hebert (Fra) 70 69, Simon Thornton 69 70, M Quiros (Spa) 71 68, T Levet (Fra) 69 70.

140 – A Tampion (Aus) 70 70, A Velasco (Spa) 68 72, D Willett 74 66, Peter Lawrie 68 72, A Oldcorn 71 69, A Noren (Swe) 69 71, N Fasth (Swe) 71 69, A Forsyth 71 69, G Havret (Fra) 73 67, R Ramsay 73 67, J Sandelin (Swe) 71 69, P Price 72 68, N Dougherty 72 68, J Quesne (Fra) 71 69, A Quiros (Spa) 69 71, Gary Murphy 69 71, P Archer 66 74, B Lane 70 70.

Missed cut: 141 – Damien McGrane 73 68.