McGinley back in the groove

EUROPEAN TOUR:PAUL McGINLEY ended a dismal run to fire a six-under 64 and share a one-shot first-round lead with Britain's Gary Orr at the Dutch Open yesterday.

McGinley, runner-up at the event last year but who has slipped to 202 in the world rankings, ran up an eagle and five birdies at the Kennemer links before a late bogey denied him the outright lead.

Scot Orr, trying to end a nine-year barren spell, produced a flawless card which included an eagle and four birdies.

The pair head four players in second place, last year’s winner Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie, Matthew Millar of Australia and Spanish 23-year-old Jorge Campillo.

McGinley, who sank the winning putt in the 2002 Ryder Cup, was pleased to be finding his form just before qualification for next years edition gets under way.

“Normally I play well in a Ryder Cup year and the start to qualification is only two weeks away,” McGinley, who has played in three winning European Cup teams, told reporters.

“I needed something to get me going because the first eight months of the year have been pretty flat.”

Orr, 42, twice a tour champion but dogged by a back injury for several years, has not won since overcoming eight-times European number one Colin Montgomerie to win the 2000 British Masters.

“I’ll have the back problems for the rest of my life,” Orr told reporters. “But physio and exercise keep me going. Today I felt good and set up a lot of birdie chances.”

McGinley’s promised to be even better when he stood seven under and three clear after 12 holes, having already made five birdies and a 20-foot eagle putt.

But the 2005 Volvo Masters champion – that was his last victory – bogeyed the short eighth, his 17th, and Orr caught him by also playing the back nine in 30.

The Helensburgh golfer, now 42 as well, has to go back to 2000 for his last success and has not had things easy since then.

Orr lost his Tour card five years ago, then suffered recurring back problems and had to fight for his future again at the start of last season.

Finishing joint second in the European Open in May brought him back to the fore and at 129th in the world he is now Scotland’s highest-ranked player – nearly 100 places ahead of Montgomerie.

Deteriorating afternoon weather helped McGinley and Orr stay top of the leaderboard and did not help an out-of-sorts Montgomerie, whose downward spiral continued with a six-over par 76.

Without a top-10 finish for almost 14 months Montgomerie’s score left him near the rear of a field which does not contain a single member of the world’s top 50.

Kennemer’s notorious seventh hole took its usual toll, with Dutch amateur Willem Vork running up an eight-over 13 and French professional Anthony Snobeck a 10.

By contrast, Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen holed in one at the 11th. Derksen won a car last year in France for an ace and a gold bar two years ago in Hong Kong, but this time earned no prize. The car for a hole in one is on offer at the 17th.

Clarke grabbed seven birdies and felt he would have been out in front but for “a couple of stupid schoolboy errors”.

The first plugged in a bunker and the second led to him taking a penalty drop away from a bush.

Lawrie came back from an opening bogey for a matching 65 and Australian Matthew Millar and Spain’s Jorge Campillo then joined them.

Jose Maria Olazabal, suffering from more rheumatic pains, was two under with one to go, but double-bogeyed the 418-yard ninth just like Bradley Dredge did after reaching six under.