McGinley comes in from cold

More than one ominous shadow materialised in the Smurfit Irish PGA at Westport yesterday. All day, black clouds hovered over Croagh Patrick, occasionally drenching players and the few hardy souls cast as spectators with ice-cold rainwater, writes Philip Reid in Westport

But it was the appearance of Paul McGinley - ranked 38th in the world, and the class player in the field - on the shoulders of the half-way leaders that constituted the most ominous presence of all.

Forewarned by the weathermen, and wrapped up in four layers of clothing, McGinley resembled an explorer setting forth on an expedition into the unknown.

Yet again, an icy wind howled in off the Atlantic and, in shooting a round of 72, the only sub-par score of the second day's play, McGinley closed the gap on those ahead and reached the mid-way point just two shots behind the joint-leaders, Eamon Logue and John Dwyer, two club professionals with a knack of eking out scores in tough conditions.

An indication of just how difficult the conditions were for the first two rounds was that not one player held the distinction of being under par going into the weekend. Logue, who plays out of Hilton Templepatrick, and Dwyer, the professional at Ashbourne and last year's leading money winner on the Irish Region Order of Merit, were on level-par 146 after 36-holes, with McGinley, Des Smyth and Damien McGrane on the 148 mark.

On a day when every score from two to 11 was recorded, and scoring soared so much that the cut finally fell at 11-over-par 157 with 56 players surviving into the weekend, things could have been even worse.

However, some sensible decisions to move forward tees on the more exposed holes were applauded by the players.

"The PGA deserve credit for how the course was prepared," said McGinley. "If the course had been set up to play off the back tees, we'd have been all made to look like fools.

"As it was, it was only just playable and, with these gale force winds, it was really tough. I was just chipping it in front of me, trying to avoid a high number."

Indeed, there were occasions when the balls moved on more exposed greens, and one of the joint-leaders, Dwyer, was amazed to see his ball originally finish 10 feet from the pin on the 15th only to have rolled off the surface by the time he reached the green.

The tee on the eighth hole was moved forward by almost 60 yards, but still it was a slog. McGinley only just made the putting surface with a drive and a three-wood approach. But while it again inflicted a plethora of bogeys and double-bogeys on the field, at least Dwyer showed it could be conquered by hitting a three-iron approach to 20 feet and holing the birdie putt that felt like an eagle. It was one of five birdies on the hole.

The 15th tee was moved forward 60 yards - so the players could clear the inlet to Clew Bay - and the 17th, playing into the teeth of the wind, was also shortened.

That 17th, though, proved to be the downfall of Philip Walton, who was grinding his way around the course, and very much in contention, until he suffered a triple bogey seven on his penultimate hole. A heavy squall engulfed Walton as he drove off the tee and the ball veered right and out-of-bounds over the stone wall that runs alongside the fairway.

"I happened to be on that tee for the wrong five minutes," said Walton.

Most of his problems, though, came on the greens and he admitted to having "a nightmare" with his broom-handle blade. Still, his second round 79 left him just three shots behind the leaders.

Another player content to have survived the elements was Smyth. "It was a war of attrition out there, so I'm not disgusted with a 77," he remarked.

He had battled along gamely until suffering a double-bogey on the ninth, his finishing hole. Smyth's dropped shots on the last came from a blocked three-iron right behind a tree, which emphasised the physical and mental demands placed on the players.

With more adverse weather forecast, the weekend promises to be another tough test. But, as McGinley, observed, "it's the same for all of us."

The war of attrition goes on.