McGinley still learning

Golf Tour News If anyone on tour has a good listening ear, it is Paul McGinley. Even now, into his 13th season as a touring professional and with a starring role in the Ryder Cup and a winning role in a World Cup included among the items in his curriculum vitae, the Dubliner is eager to learn.

So, if losing out to Mark O'Meara in the Dubai Desert Classic hurt, as it undoubtedly did, then the American's parting shots before flying home in his friend Tiger Woods's private plane will have provided some solace.

"I look for Paul to have a very big year this year in Europe and with his golf in general, he looks pretty focused," insisted O'Meara, adding: "He's a great competitor and he is swinging the club very, very well. He's a good, fair competitor and a good sport, (someone) who knows what the game is all about."

Certainly, after enduring a tough past 18 months during which his world ranking fell dramatically from 29th to 159th prior to teeing up in Dubai, all the evidence is that McGinley has rediscovered the confidence to contend again.

Indeed, his performance in the desert was sufficient for him to move up to 101st in the world in the latest rankings released yesterday, an improvement of 58 places in one go, but he still has some ground to regain to claim places in the world golf championships and the majors where the really serious points are to be garnered.

Nevertheless, he has finally started to make inroads. "I haven't made any drastic changes," said McGinley.

"I've put a new three-wood, a new five-wood and a new sand iron in my bag but, other than that, everything is the same and I'm continuing to work with Bob Torrance, who I think is the best coach in the world."

Although McGinley has moved to 11th in the Volvo Order of Merit, a comparison with his playing schedule over the next few weeks compared to those of Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke suggests there is still work to be done for the K Club tour professional to get back into the circles where he firmly believes he belongs.

McGinley competes in this week's Qatar Masters and next week's Singapore Masters while, in contrast, both Harrington and Clarke's next three engagements are in the United States: Harrington has a two-week break before playing in the Players Championship, the BellSouth and the US Masters, while Clarke has a one-week break before playing in the Bay Hill Invitational, and then the Players Championship before taking a week off to finalise his preparations for the Masters.

"What I take out of Dubai is that I am still competitive," insisted McGinley, whose last tour win came in the Wales Open of 2001. His only wins since then were in taking the Irish PGA titles in 2002 and 2003.

"I don't feel like I lost the tournament. It was tough, competitive golf and hopefully I can get back into contention soon and keep getting those world ranking points and big finishes . . . and, obviously, winning."

At least he headed on to Qatar last night, after competing in the world sand championship in Abu Dhabi yesterday, in much better form that he did 12 months ago. On that occasion, McGinley actually finished third but was subsequently diagnosed as suffering from pneumonia. This week, McGinley is joined in the field by fellow Irish players Peter Lawrie, Gary Murphy, Damien McGrane and Graeme McDowell.

Harrington, meanwhile, plans to spend a lot of time on his private putting green to regain his putting confidence, which he felt was affected on the poa annua greens in the Accenture matchplay at La Costa two weeks ago.

"The green I have at home is perfect, and so are the ones at Sawgrass and Augusta which are important weeks ahead. But I feel I'm ahead of where I want to be and am pretty positive about the stuff that I have got to work on.

"I'm a bit disappointed about how poor my putting was but that's a kickback to California and I've got the next two weeks for get ready for the TPC," added Harrington, who slipped back a place to 12th in the world rankings, although he is still the top-ranked European. Darren Clarke remained in 13th place.

Incidentally, Mark O'Meara's first strokeplay win since his British Open triumph in 1998 saw him leapfrog up the world rankings from 201st to 80th, an improvement of 121 places. Other significant moves saw England's Brian Davis move into the top-50 (in 50th) for the first time, while Craig Parry's win in the Ford championship at Doral saw him move to 35th.

Irish positions in European Tour Order of Merit: 1 D Clarke €449,122; 5 P Harrington €296,474; 11 P McGinley €200,118; 42 P Lawrie €56,247; 76 D McGrane €26,656; 79 G Murphy €25,443; 113, G McDowell 13,057.