Dubliners climb to top of the world

Dermot Gilleecewas at Kiawah Island on November 24th, 1997, to witness the second time a pair of Irishmen captured the team event

A TROPHY dear to Irish hearts was captured in thrilling circumstances, when Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington won the 43rd World Cup here on the Ocean Course at South Carolina yesterday. With a record-breaking aggregate of 31-under-par, the Dublin duo were five strokes clear of closest challengers Scotland to earn prize money of $200,000 each.

"I feel immensely proud to follow such illustrious Irish golfers as Harry Bradshaw and Christy O'Connor Snr," said McGinley, referring to Ireland's previous success in the tournament in 1958.

Meanwhile, for his partner, it was "phenomenal" to re-live team competition from his amateur days but now at the highest level.

Walking up the 18th fairway with a five-stroke lead and a gentle breeze on his back, Harrington turned to the accompanying scribes and, grinning ear to ear, remarked: "Isn't it a pity lads that the wind didn't blow."

That was a measure of their comfortable stroll to triumph.

With three holes remaining, they had equalled the previous record aggregate of 29-under, set by the triumphant South Africans at Erinvale, Cape Town, 12 months ago. Then, two further birdies from McGinley, who won $I5,000 for finishing fourth in the individual table, set a formidable, new target.

The tournament's significance from an Irish standpoint went way beyond the success of Bradshaw and O'Connor in the then Canada Cup in Mexico City.

In fact, it could be seen as largely responsible for the current, thriving state of the game in Ireland.

When the event came to Ireland in I960, crowds flocked to Portmarnock to watch Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer capture the trophy for the US. The magic of that occasion proved to be the springboard for an extraordinary expansion in golf throughout the country.

There were also resonances of 1958 but in a less fortunate context, as Sweden's Per-Ulrik Johansson was forced to withdraw from the tournament (as befell Snead) late on Saturday night, with his team still in contention in fourth place.

It seems that the problem may be bronchitis and, either way, it was sufficiently serious to have him whisked back to his homeland yesterday.

But there was some compensation for the beaten Scots in that Colin Montgomerie emerged as leading individual on 22 under par, two strokes clear of Alexander Cejka.

From a position of tied second behind Scotland on Friday, the Irish went second on their own, this time behind Germany, when Harrington and McGinley shot matching 68s on Saturday.

Still, much of the spectator attention remained focused yesterday on the home side, despite the fact that they trailed eight strokes back in a share of fifth position.

It meant that Ireland could make relatively quiet progress in company with the Germans at the end of the field. But there was no shortage of support. McGinley's wife, Allison, and Harrington's fiancee, Caroline Gregan, were pressed enthusiastically against the spectator ropes.

Then there was the support of David Feherty, who had known Kiawah in a meaner mood when he competed here in the Ryder Cup in 1991. Now, he had returned as a supposedly neutral commentator with CBS but was unashamedly biased towards the Irish cause.

He even saw fit to keep their spirits high with typical banter. On the 15th fairway, where Harrington's caddie, John O'Reilly, attempted to tell a bar-room joke which fell somewhat flat, Feherty piped up: "Heard about the tin of beans which went into a bar looking for a drink and the barman said to him, 'Sorry, we don't serve food in here'."

Harrington's coolness throughout a final round of 67 was all the more creditable for the fact that his opening shot was a pushed drive into water at the first.

Typically, he holed a 15-foot putt to save par.

As it happened, the Germans made an early burst when Cejka and Sven Struver both birdied the second, but Ireland had taken over the lead a hole later.

By the turn, which they reached in a combined five under par, McGinley and Harrington were 26 under par and leading by three strokes from the Germans and the Americans, with Scotland a further three strokes back.

They then faced the breeze for the stretch from the 10th to the 13th holes, which had been their most productive stretch on the previous three days.

On this occasion, however, their lone reward was a birdie from Harrington at the 10th, where he hit a nine-iron to three feet.

In the circumstances, however, there was extraordinary merit in two saving pitches from Harrington at the 13th and 14th holes. Facing water at the far side of the 13th green, he bravely played a lob-wedge from rough off the left to finish within a foot of the hole.

But the next one was even more impressive.

After flying the green at the short 14th, he faced a pitch of nerve-racking delicacy, up on to the green 15 feet above him. Again, the shot was executed to perfection, sending it to tap-in distance once more.

"Pretty straightforward shots, except for the circumstances," he said afterwards.

Meanwhile, his partner produced solid pars and then gave them priceless breathing space with three birdies in a row.

These came at the 15th (25-foot putt), 16th (15-footer) and short 17th, where he emulated the achievement of Montgomerie moments earlier by holing a chip and run shot from off the back of the green.

Only then did the smiles become totally relaxed. The Scots had finished on 26 under by that stage and nothing but a disaster of monumental proportions at the 18th could have deprived them of victory.

Given their highly competitive mood, there was never any chance of that.

Instead, the crowds who had cheered the Americans into third place surrounded the 18th green to cheer home the Irish who finished with solid pars.

And as they walked off the green, Harrington, with typical understatement, captured the essence of the moment when he said:

"Paul and I were good company for each other this week."

"Harrington's coolness throughout a final round of 67 was all the more creditable for the fact that his opening shot was a pushed drive into water at the first. Typically, he holed a 15-foot putt to save par.