It's time for Paul McGinley to reap the spoils of his best ever individual season as a tour professional, an occupation he has pursued since 1992. Yesterday, the 38-year-old Dubliner - who has risen almost 50 places in the official world rankings this year, the highlight being his Volvo Masters win at Valderrama - was named as the O2 Irish Golf Writers' Association "Professional Player of the Year".
In a season when no fewer than seven Irish players won professional tournaments around the world, McGinley was rewarded for a season that saw him finish a career-best third on the PGA European Tour Order of Merit with earnings of 2,296,423, behind top money-winner Colin Montgomerie and US Open champion Michael Campbell.
McGinley and his fellow recipients - Brian McElhinney, the British Amateur champion who took the "Men's Amateur Player of the Year"; Tricia Mangan, the Irish Ladies Close champion, who won the "Women's Amateur Player of the Year"; and Pádraig Ó hUigínn, who was selected for the "Distinguished Services to Golf" award - will receive their awards at the IGWA annual awards dinner at Elm Park Golf Club, Dublin, on January 12th.
This is the second time McGinley has won a professional award from the IGWA. Last year, he shared the honour with Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke for the trio's performances in helping Europe retain the Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills in Michigan.
McGinley's victory at Valderrama in October moved him to 18th in the world rankings (he is currently 21st), having started the season in 68th position, and that Volvo Masters win came after a series of near misses that included losing a play-off to Paul Casey in the TCL Classic in China, finishing runner-up to Angel Cabrera in the BMW (PGA) Championship at Wentworth and losing to Campbell in the final of the World Matchplay Championship at Wentworth.
McElhinney's success in the British Amateur Championship resulted in him edging out Rory McIlroy, who became the youngest every winner of the Irish Close championship, to claim the "Men's Amateur Player of the Year" award.
The Donegalman was a 5 and 4 winner over Scotland's John Gallagher in the final at Royal Birkdale and went on to make his Walker Cup debut at Chicago, where the United States regained the trophy. He was also a part of the North-West team that won the Irish Senior Cup.
Mangan, of Ennis Golf Club, was named as the "Women's Amateur Player of the Year" following her victory in the Irish Ladies Close Championship at Portsalon, where she defeated Catherine Tucker in the final.
Mangan also played an important part in Britain and Ireland's 13-11 win over the continent of Europe in the Vagliano Trophy in Paris, when she won three points from four matches.
The "Distinguished Services to Golf" for 2005 has been awarded to Ó hUigínn, a native of Cork who played a key role in securing the 2006 Ryder Cup for Ireland and was also instrumental in the foundation of the Team Ireland Golf Trust, which assists young professional golfers in their fledgling careers.
Darren Clarke, meanwhile, who has finished first-second-second in his last three tournaments, intends to commence his playing schedule for 2006 at the Qatar Masters next month. Clarke, who finished runner-up to Luke Donald in the Target World Challenge in California on Sunday, has outlined a provisional itinerary - dependent on the health of his wife, Heather, who is battling cancer - that will take in Qatar, the Dubai Desert Classic and then the Nissan Open at the Riviera Club in Los Angeles the week before the Accenture Matchplay in San Diego.
"For obvious reasons, my schedule is all over the place. I don't know what I am going to do, but that's what I am planning to do," said Clarke, who remarked that he was "fighting it left all day" in his final round at the Target, where Donald's finishing 64 (to Clarke's 72) pushed him into second.
He added: "I put myself into position to win. I'm disappointed to finish the way I did (two bogeys in the last three holes). To finish second was not bad. I can't be too hard on myself."
In yesterday's latest world rankings, Harrington has slipped to 17th with Clarke at 18th and McGinley at 21st.
Graeme McDowell is unlikely to earn a place in the US Masters field next April based on the end-of-year rankings, as he has slipped to 53rd. The world's top 50 earn invitations, but McDowell has a second chance to earn an invite as there is a revision after the Players' Championship in March when any then in the top 50 who haven't received an invite will get one.
The final tournament on the European Tour's pre-Christmas international schedule takes place with this week's South African Airways Open, when there will be five Irishmen in the field: Damien McGrane, Gary Murphy, Michael Hoey, David Higgins and Stephen Browne.
WorldRankings
Top 10
1 T Woods (US) 17.39
2 V Singh (Fij) 10.06
3 P Mickelson (US) 8.40
4 R Goosen (Rsa) 8.02
5 E Els (Rsa) 7.88
6 S Garcia (Spa) 7.38
7 J Furyk (USA) 5.91
8 A Scott (Aus) 5.07
9 C Montgomerie (Sco)4.86
10 C DiMarco (USA) 4.69
Irish positions
17 P Harrington 4.33
18 D Clarke 4.09
21 P McGinley 3.67
53 G McDowell 2.27
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