Philip Reid talks to Paul McGinley who faces an uphill battle to retain his title

Nobody knows as much about the ebb and flow of form as Paul McGinley, a player who at one time or another has savoured elation or endured disillusionment in a professional career that has spanned 16 seasons.

A year ago, McGinley stood on the 18th green at Valderrama and lifted the imposing crystal trophy above his head as the newest Volvo Masters champion in what was the biggest individual win of his career. "This is a selfish win, this is a win for Paul McGinley," the player remarked at the time, referring to the fact that his other big wins - in the World Cup and the Ryder Cup - had come in team events.

Yesterday, though, there was an all too familiar feeling of exasperation after his first day's work. The Dubliner opened the defence of the tournament with an insipid first round that typified what he has called "a diabolical year" - with the obvious exception of a certain week in September - and which has left him with an uphill battle if he is to retain the title.

Too often this season, it has seemed, McGinley's first round has left him with too heavy a load to carry. So it was again here after a first round of two over par 73, actually one shot better than he started with last year, left him seven strokes behind first-round leader Jose Manuel Lara. He wasn't afraid to mince his words in the aftermath. "I'm very disappointed. I've put myself behind the eight ball. That was appalling," he claimed.

In a season where he has managed just three top-10 finishes and failed to add to his collection of four European Tour titles, McGinley came into Valderrama placed 53rd on the money list, a sharp contrast to last season when he had a career-best finish of third. "I've given everybody such a head start. It has been the same story all season and you just can't afford to be doing that at this level. I can't put my finger on why it should be so, because I've prepared for tournaments exactly the same as I did last year. But it will give me something to think about over the winter, that's for sure. I want to sort it out."

McGinley had gone out yesterday with the aim of getting off to a "fast start," as he put it. Instead, his first action of the round - where he played alongside Damien McGrane - was to put his drive behind a tree, which led to an opening bogey. He was rocked back on his heels again on the par-five fourth hole, where, with only 94 yards to the pin, he put his approach over the back of the green and failed to get up and down. A third bogey followed on the seventh.

To his credit, McGinley fought back with a hat-trick of birdies. On the 10th, he hit an eight-iron approach to three feet. On the 11th, after putting his drive into the rough, he hit an eight-iron approach to 15 feet and holed the putt.

The momentum continued on the 12th where he hit a four-iron tee shot in to 15 feet and sank the birdie putt. It got him back to level par for his round, but that good work was undone with two bogeys in his closing three holes, at the 16th where, despite being on the fairway, he was caught between clubs and opted for a seven iron approach which he blocked right, and 17th, when he put his drive behind a tree. The bogey on the 16th particularly irked him, McGinley describing the approach as a "bread and butter" shot that proved more awkward that envisaged.

Reminded that he had overcome a worse opening round on the way to victory last year, McGinley was realistic. "Yes, but I played unbelievable golf over the weekend . . . I suppose I'll have to try to do the same again," he replied.

Incidentally, the last time that McGinley shared a fairway with McGrane was at the 1991 Walker Cup match at Portmarnock. McGrane, who had won the Irish boys title three years previously, was part of a group of promising young players selected by the GUI to act as caddies during the match. It so happened that he was given the job as bagman for McGinley.

Times have changed considerably for McGrane since then, but the highlight of his first round came when he holed a bunker shot for birdie on the third. He was not to get another birdie for the rest of the round, finishing with a 76 that included a triple bogey seven on the seventh.