FOR NEWCOMERS, Ireland's Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington have done remarkably well in the draw for the 97th US Open starting tomorrow. But their colleague, Darren Clarke, would have wished for a better start than 2.20 p.m. local time, in the first round.
In the event, McGinley is first into action at 8.30 a.m. tomorrow (12.50 p.m. on Friday), in the company of Americans Mike Hulbert and Larry Rinker. Harrington is only three groups behind him, at 9.0 a.m. (1.20 p.m. on Friday) with other home-based players Duffy Waldorf and Fred Funk.
Clarke, meanwhile is in the company of Jeff Maggert, a member of the US Ryder Cup team at Oak Hill two years ago, and the promising young Scott McCarron, winner of the Bell South Classic in April.
Meanwhile, the USGA seem to have great difficulty in distinguishing between players from Ireland and Britain, as evidenced in their reference in 1992 to Joe Carr as being the English captain of the Royal and Ancient.
As it happens, Harrington is correctly designated as being Irish in the official draw, but England is given as the home country of both McGinley and Clarke.
