McGinley falters at the finish

GOLF: Just over a month later than originally intended, Paul McGinley finally got to make his seasonal debut on the US Tour - however, a poor finish, which saw the Dubliner incur two bogeys in his closing three holes, left him signing for a level par 71 in the first round of the Nissan Open at the Riviera club in Los Angeles yesterday.

While McGinley blew hot and cold, one of his team-mates for the re-scheduled Ryder Cup later this year could do no wrong. Jesper Parnevik, who assumed the early clubhouse lead with an opening six-under-par 65, even included a chip-in eagle two, on the 10th hole, in making use of favourable conditions early in the day to open up a one-stroke lead over Americans Billy Andrade and David Peoples.

With the ambition of staging the US Open, possibly in 2008, the Riviera course has been restored to its original design with a split fairway on the eighth and three other holes that have added yardage to bring bunkers and other trouble into play.

But it is the second hole, a par four of 463 yards with out-of-bounds down the left and trees on the right, which is traditionally the toughest hole on the course. McGinley - and fellow Irishman Darren Clarke - would certainly attest to that, with both players suffering bogeys there yesterday.

McGinley was coasting along nicely until that stage. Having started on the 10th, he turned in two-under after picking up birdies on the two par fives on the back nine - the 11th and the 17th. However, McGinley - using the Nissan as a competitive warm-up for next week's Accenture world matchplay which takes place at La Costa - bogeyed the second, immediately got the shot back at the third, but then suffered another bogey at the fourth.

Indeed, it was a frustrating homeward run for McGinley because, after getting back to two-under for the round by birdieing the sixth, he then gave the shot back straight away and compounded matters by also bogeying the ninth, his final hole.

Clarke, meanwhile, was among the later starters but had a terrible start with back-to-back bogeys on the opening two holes.

Following Sergio Garcia's win in the Mercedes Championship last month and Jose-Maria Olazabal's win in the Buick Invitational last week, it has been a good start to the US Tour season for European players - and Parnevik's first round which required a mere 23 putts on his way to an opening 65 gave the Swede the early clubhouse lead.

Parnevik, a wild card pick for the Ryder Cup, hasn't won on tour since winning the Honda Classic last March.