McGinley steady in the gales

The rain in Spain may fall mainly on the plains, but, as insufferably high winds in Jerez proved in the second round of the Volvo Masters yesterday, weathermen the world over can get the forecast wrong.

For much of the day, players were forced to combat a strong, if playable wind, until, without warning, it developed into a gale - reaching a constant 45 miles per hour - late in the afternoon.

With balls moving on the greens, play initially was suspended and, when matters deteriorated, play was abandoned. The 20 players in the 66-man field who failed to finish are scheduled to complete their second rounds this morning.

Among them are two Irishmen, Paul McGinley, the tournament leader, and Padraig Harrington. Darren Clarke, meanwhile, had completed his round, a 68, to move up from joint-21st overnight to tied-third position.

For McGinley, it extended a relationship with weather-hampered tournaments whenever he manoeuvres his way into contention.

His win this season came in the Wales Open (curtailed to 36 holes) and, in the recent Dunhill Links, where he secured his 11th top-10 finish of the season, play had to be carried through to an extra day.

Yesterday, as overnight leader Ian Poulter struggled in the wind and moved in the opposite direction, McGinley coped better than most and, having birdied the 12th, he was preparing to get into a buggy to take him over the hilly terrain to the 13th tee when the call to halt play came.

At that stage, McGinley was nine under par, two shots clear of Mathias Gronberg, who was safely ensconced in the clubhouse, and another one clear of Harrington, Clarke and Peter Lonard.

"I'm delighted they stopped play," confessed McGinley, who was preparing to play the most exposed holes on the course when the decision was taken. In fact, the organisers had no option as balls were moving on the putting surfaces and flagsticks were lucky to remain in the cups.

McGinley had an experience of the wind's influence on the 11th hole, where he suffered his first bogey in 29 holes. Having put his tee-shot to 35 feet, his first putt was blown six feet right of the hole and he missed the putt back.

He wasn't alone. In the match ahead, Harrington experienced a similar problem on the 10th, except that his six-footer was for birdie. It was blown six inches off the intended target.

But he wasn't as fortunate as McGinley who was between holes when the suspension came.

Remembering his woes on Thursday, when he lost a ball in the bush on the 13th, Harrington opted to use a two-iron rather than three-wood for safety - but the strategy misfired and he will resume today with a shot of 210 yards to the flag, with the added nuisance of trees in his line.

Only Mathias Gronberg, who had two eagles on his front nine in firing a 67 for 137 and the clubhouse lead, and Robert Karlsson played the outward journey better than McGinley. Given that the Dubliner was playing in much the tougher conditions, it was a notable performance.

He birdied the first, hitting a sandwedge approach to two feet, and then two-putted from 30 feet for another birdie on the third. McGinley then reeled off five pars until he pitched dead, from 60 yards, on the ninth for his third birdie of the front nine.

Although McGinley suffered as the wind picked up by three-putting the 11th, he salvaged a precious birdie on the 12th to earn a two-shot cushion on the field, with six holes to be completed.

Harrington, meanwhile, opened with two birdies in the opening three holes but dropped a shot on the fifth (where his nine-iron approach failed to find the green), and then incurred another bogey on the eighth, where he was in a greenside trap. If there was some frustration by failing to birdie either the ninth or 12th, both par fives, he had the consolation of hitting a superb two-iron to four feet for a rare birdie on the 11th.

"I'm glad they took the decision to stop play when they did. It really was unplayable," said Harrington, who added: "I'd prefer to be out in the bad weather and six-under than out in the average weather and be only level par. I had to work hard."

It was a day for creative shot-making and patience - and three Irishmen in the top-three provides its own indicator to the ability of each of them to perform in tough conditions. For them all, however, there is much unfinished work to be done if the title, and the Waterford Crystal trophy, is to be collected by any of them.