Irish players disappoint

At least this time, the Irish got into the thick of it. But the sardonic smile on Paul McGinley's face as he walked off the 18th green concealed the frustration of a man who knew it could have been so much better.

"I played good enough to win," he said, but then followed up immediately with the reason why he finished in tied-20th position rather than getting within shouting distance of lifting the gold trophy. "I didn't make a birdie in the last 23 holes, and you don't win a tournament doing that," added McGinley, the touring professional at The K Club. "I'm playing fine but not scoring well, and to contend you have to make the putts."

In the finish, McGinley's final round of a disappointing 76 for three-over-par 291 left him as second-placed Irishman in the field, with the tournament-within-a-tournament prize of £10,000 in Aer Lingus travel vouchers winging its way to Darren Clarke.

McGinley, though, remained bullish about his prospects, if he can manage to sort out his putting. "The really frustrating thing is that I was hitting what I felt were good putts, but they weren't going in. I just need to improve my short game. My bunker play was good, my chipping average, and my putts have to start dropping."

His disappointment was shared by Padraig Harrington, the other half of Ireland's World Cup winning partnership, who closed with a 73 for four over par 292. The Dubliner actually had back-to-back birdies at the fourth and fifth (from 10 and 25 feet respectively) and thought to himself, "this is looking good". However, he failed to register another birdie and then incurred bogeys at the sixth, 14th and 16th - all the result of poor drives - to have what he termed a "disappointing finish".

Halfway up the sixth fairway yesterday, Lee Westwood decided enough was enough. He held up his hand and, literally, threw in a wet towel. Europe's number one had taken 250 shots for the 59 1/2 holes he'd managed to negotiate and was 13 over par, but the hip injury that tormented and ached all week finally proved too much and, so, he departed without a penny.

On tour, a player doesn't get paid unless he completes a tournament. However, the ailment which first surfaced at the US PGA Championship in Seattle proved too much for Westwood. "I hit my second shot to the sixth and couldn't get through the ball. The pain in my left hip was too bad for me to continue," he said.

Westwood may have banked some £590,585 so far this season, but in this game, every shilling counts. In 1991, Eamonn Darcy didn't play in the last counting event for the Ryder Cup and missed out on selection by £58.26, so Westwood must only hope that his penniless departure from Straffan won't prove too costly.

The Englishman has decided to miss out on this week's BMW International in Munich and plans to return to the circuit in the following week at the European Masters in Crans sur Sierre.

"I think the problem was caused by taking two weeks off after the Dutch Open, not touching a club, then coming back and over-practising before the US PGA. I probably did about four times my normal practice routine at Sahalee and felt the problem in my hip during the tournament.

"I've been to the 3M Physio Unit (which travels with the tour) for treatment and I'll undergo further treatment at home in Worksop during the week. It seems to be a problem with the sciatic nerve on my left hand side," he said.

Despite the poor weather (and the counter attractions on the television and elsewhere on the east coast), attendance figures at the European Open compared favourably with last year. Overall, 70,011 spectators attended the five days of the championship: 4,007 on Wednesday (Pro-Am day); 8,512 on Thursday; 14,763 on Friday; 19,742 on Saturday, and 22,987 yesterday. This compares to a figure of 71,454 last year. In 1996, the attendance was 49,962 and, in 1995, the first year of the tournament at The K club, the numbers attending were 54,556.

Welshman Phillip Price more than doubled his previous best cheque - the £52,000 he collected in the European Open at East Sussex back in 1993 - when he rolled in a 10 footer for birdie on the 18th green.

Price collected £108,562 for his tied-second place finish with Miguel Angel Jimenez, and he has finally rid himself of the hated "journeyman" tag. Ironically, it was a missed cut here last year which prompted Price into a more determined approach this season: "I decided to commit myself more and more. I hate being called a journeyman. I've worked harder since, and it has paid off." So much so that Price is enjoying his best-ever season and is currently placed 10th in the Order of Merit with £257,752.