McGinley, Harrington keen to defend Cup

Ireland's World Cup heroes, Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington, have their hearts set on defending the trophy in New Zealand next year. But they discovered yesterday that despite recent precedents, the process may not be as easy as they imagined.

McGinley was even convinced that Darren Clarke, who opted out of this year's team, would be prepared to do so again, if the occasion arose. "I think we should be entitled to the privilege of defending and knowing Darren as I do, I feel sure he would have no problem with that," he said.

Similarly, the prospect of defending was foremost on Harrington's mind after the victory presentation at Kiawah Island on Sunday. And he was decidedly optimistic after raising the matter with an official of the International Golf Association, organisers of the tournament.

"Certainly," came the reply, which was based on the fact that America's Davis Love and Fred Couples played for four successive victories, from 1992 to 1995. Indeed, Ernie Els and Wayne Westner were given the same courtesy after their triumph at Erinvale, Capetown, 12 months ago.

The qualifying process in those countries, however, is rather arbitrary and European Tour official Mike Stewart, who was present for the Irish triumph, was quick to point this out. "Technically, authomatic qualification is not possible," he said.

Stewart went on explain that the European Tour have a precise method of World Cup selection for competitors from the home countries: after completion of the British Open, places go to the player highest in the World Rankings and the player with the highest Order of Merit position, at that time. This year, that happened to be Clarke and Harrington, but McGinley stepped in when Clarke withdrew.

"Frankly, the situation hasn't arisen before so we haven't had to think about it," added Stewart. "The players would have to make a formal application to the European Tour committee and my personal view is that it would probably give them the all clear."

Burch Riber, executive director of the IGA, had no doubts on the issue. "I'm going to insist that these boys defend," he said yesterday. "They showed themselves to be wonderful champions and I certainly want to see them in New Zealand."

Next year's venue, the spectacular Gulf Harbour course, was officially opened only last week. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jnr, it was being promoted at Kiawah Island last weekend by Andy Hayden, the former All Blacks rugby star, who is handling publicity for the owners.

Wales were the last home countries' team to win the World Cup, when Ian Woosnam and David Llewellyn triumphed in Hawaii in 1987. As it happened, Woosnam declined to defend the title, much to the disappointment of Welsh enthusiasts which meant that Llewellyn was partnered by Mark Mouland in Melbourne the following year, when they finished 12th behind the US.

"We will be applying to the Tour," said McGinley, while Harrington nodded approvingly. In suggesting that an approach to Clarke might be necessary, however, McGinley was acknowledging that the Ulsterman will almost certainly be an automatic choice again next year, given his current position as leading Irishman in the World Rankings, in 36th position.

Clarke shot a final round of 64 in an otherwise disappointing Irish showing with Harrington in Capetown last year. When I discussed the matter with him at the Alfred Dunhill Cup last month, he explained: "I simply can't handle the six-hour rounds that have become an accepted part of the World Cup," he said.

Instead, he took up invitations to play two tournaments in Japan and had a top-10 finish in the Dunlop Phoenix Open last weekend.

Meanwhile, the growing importance of the World Rankings in terms of qualification for forthcoming world tour events, has caused players to take a more critical look at the current system. And the general concensus is that it is unfairly weighted in favour of the Americans.

Colin Montgomerie, winner of the individual award on the Ocean Course last Sunday, claimed it was badly in need of overhaul. And he received strong support from McGinley and Harrington. "I am particularly anxious about it, because of the importance of getting into events like the World Cup in future years," said McGinley.

He went on: "Quite frankly I think it's ludicrous that Bernhard Langer could win four tournaments in Europe this year and still drop four places (down to 20th) in the rankings. And despite finishing top of the Order of Merit for a fifth successive year, Monty dropped three spots (down to seventh).

"The extent to which the system is weighted in favour of the Americans can also be gauged from recent tournaments on either side of the Atlantic. The BC Open, which should have been downgraded since it was running directly against the Ryder Cup, was, in fact, rated higher than the German Masters. This meant that Gabriel Hjertstedt received more World Ranking points than Langer got for his win in Germany."

As it happens, the ranking system is to radically revised. "If the thing is done fairly, players like myself should be in the top-50," said McGinley, who is currently 97th.

He and Harrington were to have flown out of here on Sunday night but they couldn't resist the temptation of a celebration party. So, champagne flowed in one of the local restaurants where all concerned with the Irish triumph, including their caddies, joined the fun.

Mind you, it wouldn't have presented any great financial strain. With takings of about £135,000, including his reward from the individual table, it was the highest pay-day of McGinley's career, comfortably surpassing the £75,000 he collected for winning the Oki Pro-Am in Madrid last month.

Harrington's return was a slightly reduced £128,000, which was also his biggest cheque, surpassing the £110,000 he collected as runner-up in the recent Volvo Masters. But the biggest cheque for an Irishman remains the £150,000 which Darren Clarke received as joint runner-up in the British Open last July.

The players' decision to stay overnight, allowed them to savour the local reaction to their magnificent triumph. And they received the full treatment from Charleston's The Post and Courier, the front page of which had a photograph of them holding the trophy under the heading "On top of the World".

And by way of proving that the old cliches are still the best, the sports section carried the banner headline "Irish eyes are smiling". It could hardly have been more appropriate, given that it covered a delightful, colour photograph of McGinley and Harrington embracing each other in their moment of triumph while Harrington's caddie, John O'Reilly, looked on smiling.

O'Reilly's mood was helped no doubt by the thought of his percentage of his "master's" winnings. Which will remain a source of some grief for McGinley's regular caddie, "Edinburgh" Jimmy Rae. Having missed his flight to the US on the Sunday prior to the tournament, Rae was informed by McGinley that he needn't bother making the trip.

So the bag went to a stand-in caddie, Alan Kelly from Bantry in Cork, who provided himself with an extremely welcome Christmas bonus of about £13,000, making the World Cup very much an Irish affair.

Ireland's winning aggregate of 31-under-par was a World Cup record for European teams, not the actual tournament record as stated in yesterday's report. That was set at 40-under-par by the US team of Fred Couples and Davis Love in Puerto Rico three years ago.