Natural optimist looking on the bright side again

Paul McGinleyPaul McGinley has had the weight of the world on his shoulders for much of the summer. Yesterday, in his own place, it was good to see him have a good old belly laugh. It came on the 10th hole of his practice round when he noticed that an unfortunate driver carting drinks to the tee had made the mistake of becoming too immersed in the golf and parked his cart too close to the ropes separating players from spectators.

"He was parked beside the crowd, and here was the crowd one after another helping themselves to all of these bottles of water. I'll tell you, it could only happen in Ireland. Anywhere else, you'd be afraid to go near the guy. But the guy was totally oblivious to what was happening. He had 100 bottles starting and by the time he pulled off I'd say he had about 10. It was so funny," recalled McGinley.

For too long over the final months of the Ryder Cup qualifying campaign, such levity was an alien concept. Quite simply, McGinley had little to laugh about. Although he started the year well placed to make the team, qualification went down to the wire at the BMW Open in Munich. He had knee surgery in May and more recently has suffered horribly with his swing.

But he's here, and he's ready.

"Yeah, my form has been poor," he admits. "I've been swinging the club very poorly and, technically, I've got really out of position. I've been really out of kilter, swinging too flat and laying off too much from the ball and consequently coming up from the inside.

"I've had a technical issue with my swing, a habit I've got into, and it's something that hasn't really been evident in my career in the past. Normally, my game has been very consistent because my technique has been consistent. For some reason, I was working on one part of my technique and I basically took it too far."

It's not what you want coming into the biggest event of them all, and certainly not when it is on Irish soil. McGinley's remedy was to switch off his phone all last week and practise. He picked the brains of his coach, Bob Torrance, and of his father, Mick, who yesterday walked all 18 holes.

"My dad knows my game better than anybody and I wanted him to have a close look at how I was swinging the club," said McGinley. "The things he said to me over the past couple of weeks and the last couple of months have been exactly what Bob Torrance has been saying to me."

McGinley believes he has corrected whatever was technically wrong and added, "I'm sure the adrenaline and the excitement of playing in front of my home crowd . . . will bring it to a new level this week, like it will to a lot of guys."

Certainly, he can call upon very positive Ryder Cup memories: his match-winning putt in the match at The Belfry in 2002, and his unbeaten appearance at Oakland Hills, where his three matches included a foursomes win with Padraig Harrington over Tiger Woods and Davis Love and a singles win over Stewart Cink.

"I think I've learned a lot from the two experiences I've had in the Ryder Cup," said McGinley, not one for sitting quietly in the corner in the team locker-room. Rather, he's one to contribute anecdotes and stories.

"The most important thing for me is that we win this cup at the end of the week. If Woosie says my role will be to play the singles on Sunday and that's all, I'm quite happy to do that. There'll be no complaints whatsoever. If he asks me to play five games, same thing.

"I'm a cog in the wheel, one of 12 players and very much a team player . . . the most important thing for me is that we win this Ryder Cup in my home country."