Masterly McGinley's finest hour

GOLF / Volvo Masters: Sometimes, it pays to be greedy. On too many occasions this season, Paul McGinley has been too charitable, something of a benefactor to his fellow-professionals.

Yesterday, though, a meaner, more selfish player turned up on the first tee at Valderrama and refused to be munificent with his favours. The result? A flawless, bogey free final round in the Volvo Masters that propelled the 38-year-old Dubliner to the biggest win of his career.

In shooting a final round 67 for 10-under-par 274 on a humid, sticky day that held the threat of thunderstorms that mercifully stayed away, McGinley - who had started out three shots adrift of joint-leaders Sergio Garcia and Colin Montgomerie - finished up two strokes clear of the Spaniard.

For Monty, a shot further behind in a three-way tie for third place, there was at least the consolation of topping the European Tour's Order of Merit for a record eighth time.

But this was McGinley's day, and his alone. He's had his shared moments in the Ryder Cup, and in the World Cup too. This time, after a season that had promised but never delivered a victory, deliverance was his.

Asked to compare the title win with his moments of glory in those team competitions, McGinley replied: "It's not apples to apples, you can't compare. This is a selfish win. This is for Paul McGinley. The other two were as much for everybody else as for me. I'm being selfish, this one's for me."

To be sure, it was a glorious victory. He played the best golf of all over the weekend, shooting rounds of 65 on Saturday and 67 yesterday without dropping a single shot to par. On a course like Valderrama, a fickle temptress that takes as much as it gives, such a display was awesome.

By the time he walked off the 18th green yesterday, McGinley had gone 53 holes without a bogey, the last of which came on the first hole of his second round.

By any standards, it was a stunning display; but especially so given the heartache and torment he'd encountered this season. On three occasions, he had finished runner-up: he lost a play-off to Paul Casey in TCL Classic in China; finished second to Angel Cabrera in the BMW (PGA) Championship at Wentworth, and lost to Michael Campbell in the final of the World Matchplay. Yet, this win was worth the wait.

"Those losses that I had really, really hurt me. But I learned from them. It was huge learning curves and I put a lot of what happened in those losses into practice today and I was able to pull off the shots and do the things that I think cost me in the past . . . the learning curve will continue to grow.

"There's a skill to winning, a knack. It's just taken me longer to learn than most people," said McGinley, whose last tour win came in the Wales Open in 2001.

This was a win to cherish, one borne of self-belief.

All week, he'd stayed as a house guest of Eddie Jordan, who had shown his own confidence in the player by placing a sizeable bet at odds of 33 to 1. Even after an opening round of 74, which included a triple bogey and a double bogey in his opening seven holes, McGinley refused to give up the ghost.

"I did pretty well for that 74. I easily could have shot 76, 77, 78, a score which would have blown me out of the tournament," he said.

After finishing on Saturday with a 65, McGinley - at that time - was seven shots behind Montgomerie. By the time the Scot finished his third round, the gap between Montgomerie and Garcia to McGinley had closed to four. Yesterday, playing in the penultimate pairing, McGinley walked to the first tee knowing the title was now within reach. He was a man on a mission.

Of course, he needed some assistance; and it came from both Garcia and Montgomerie. On the short sixth, Garcia suffered a double bogey five, when he went from one greenside bunker into another. Then, on the seventh, Montgomerie suffered a double bogey six, pulling his tee shot into the trees from where he needed two shots to escape.

Up ahead, McGinley was efficiently going about his business. He birdied the fourth, hitting a sand wedge approach that landed by the hole but spun back to 12 feet. He holed the putt. On the seventh, he put his approach to six feet and sank the birdie putt.

By the time he walked off the 10th green, where a superb nine-iron approach left him with a short putt for his third birdie, McGinley had moved into the lead on his own. He was never to relinquish it.

McGinley reeled off six successive pars, always showing the course the utmost respect.

Then, he came to the 17th. His game plan was to only go for the green in two if he was chasing. So, although he reckoned it could be reached with a cut five-wood, it was a no-brainer to lay-up with a nine iron.

Left with 112 yards to the pin, his sand wedge approach finished 10 feet from the hole. He rolled in the birdie putt, and both Garcia and Montgomerie watching from the 17th fairway knew the decisive blow had been struck.

But the battling Spaniard went for broke with a majestic second shot which left him with an uphill eagle putt. It was an opportunity to keep real pressure on the Irishman. However, Garcia's putt never quite threatened the hole and McGinley finished the job with a safe par.

Was he tense on the 17th? "Anybody who tells you they're not tense on the 17th hole in Valderrama with the Volvo Masters on the line is lying, I don't care who he is. I'm trying to win a massive tournament.

"I've had chances to win three massive tournaments this year and it hadn't happened. I didn't want it to go pear-shaped again. I really wanted to win, too badly, (so) of course I was tense."

This time, though, it didn't go pear-shaped. McGinley confirmed that he had learned from losses to win his fourth European Tour title in considerable style, his four shot comeback equalling the biggest in Volvo Masters history set by Miguel Angel Jimenez in 1999.

It may have been an overdue win; but, in many ways, it was worth the wait.