McGinley's touch of the blues

Tiger Woods has red as his power colour on the final day. Paul McGinley wears blue, that of the Dublin football team, for his inspiration - yesterday, however, it was more a colour that reflected the player's mood after a disappointing conclusion to a tournament that had promised so much.

A final round that included a cumbersome 33 putts and a couple of course management errors combined to knock the stuffing out of the player who, as the tournament player attached to the facility, has been responsible for tweaking some holes - most notably the 17th with a brand new teebox edging out into the Liffey - and who probably knows the course better than anyone.

Local knowledge, however, meant nothing yesterday. Having started the day in tied-fourth place, and just two shots adrift of the third round leader Angel Cabrera, McGinley went out determined to make things happen but he later admitted that he "just didn't create any momentum."

McGinley, in fact, finished with a closing round 76 for one-under-par 287 which dropped him down to tied-13th in the final standings. "I'm disappointed. I had 33 putts and you just can't afford to do that. I hit something like 13 greens (in regulation) and one birdie all day is not a good return for that," he said.

He added: "I made a couple of course management mistakes too. I think I just got a bit lackadaisical, especially putting a pitching wedge approach into the water at the 13th, and on days like that you need the putter to bale you out - and that didn't happen today."

Ironically, McGinley started his round in a very focused manner and a birdie at the fourth - where he hit a four-wood approach into a greenside bunker and splashed out to four feet - lifted him to six-under-par for the tournament, just a shot behind Lee Westwood at that stage. And when he made a brave par on the next, after driving into rough and being forced to pitch back on to the fairway, and eventually holing an eight-footer for par, it seemed that he was in a grinding mood.

However, back-to-back bogeys at the sixth and seventh hinted at strains in his game and the double-bogey six at the 13th effectively spoilt any chance he had of salvaging a top-10 finish. "I'm obviously disappointed, but I have just had one bad day . . . and when you take so many putts, it becomes a very long day," said McGinley, who collected £20,812 and moved to 12th in the Order of Merit.

Padraig Harrington also took a philosophical view after a closing 77 for four-over-par 292. "I was bad mentally," he said. "I started badly and, then, I think it was a case of trying too hard. I kept getting the wind wrong all the time and, when that happens, you lose confidence standing over your shots."

But the player wasn't pressing any alarm bells. "I don't see any contradiction in saying that my game is better than it has ever been. Sometimes, it was a case that I was actually hitting the ball too well into the wind and finishing up over the greens," he insisted, adding: "I holed one putt in 72 holes. Sometimes, the harder you try doesn't mean that it gets any better."

It wasn't a day of joy either for two Irishmen seeking to finance the tour cards for next year. Des Smyth finished with a 73 for eight-over-par 296 while Philip Walton fell to a final round 77 which dropped him down to nine-over-par 297. It meant that Smyth added £4,125 to his season's earnings and closer to safety, but Walton's reward of £3,825 only enabled him to move up nine places to 146th in the moneylist.