McGinley vulnerable but still undaunted

Paul McGinley's Ryder Cup ambitions have been distilled into a single tournament, the BMW International Open at the München Nord-Eichenried golf club, the final counting tournament before the European team to take on the USA at Oakland Hills near Detroit from September 17th-19th is confirmed.

At the conclusion of play this Sunday evening European captain Bernhard Langer will hold a press conference to announce his two wild-card selections to augment the 10 players, five of whom have qualified through the Ryder Cup World Points List with the other five coming from the Ryder Cup European Points List.

Six of those 10 slots have already been decided, the cut-off point for the World Points List coming after last weekend's NEC Invitational at Akron, Ohio. Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Darren Clarke, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Lee Westwood filled the first five places in those standings and so will be heading for Oakland Hills.

France's Thomas Levet is in fourth place on the European Points List and can not be caught, therefore confirming his selection. Paul Casey (1,209,912.67), David Howell (1,133,882.19), Ian Poulter (1,118,004.33) and McGinley (1,101,912.96) hold the final four automatic places going into the BMW Open, which begins on Thursday.

Jean-Francois Remesy, Joakim Haeggman, Fredrik Jacobson, Brian Davis, Raphaël Jacquelin and Ireland's Graeme McDowell can still make the team, the permutations of their possible accessions listed in the panel above.

McGinley, who finished tied 46th in Ohio, winning €32,985.13, is obviously the most vulnerable, claiming as he does the last automatic place and will have to draw on some of the character and mettle he displayed in holing the winning putt at the 2002 Ryder Cup at The Belfry.

Since returning from knee surgery the Dubliner has put together an excellent series of performances - he hasn't had a week off since mid-June - that have thrust him from the periphery of the Ryder Cup race to within touching distance of that plane ticket.

Despite his exertions McGinley remains undaunted.

"Physically, I'm not tired at all. I feel as fit now as I've ever been. Mentally, I'm still working a lot on adrenaline, for obvious reasons, so I'm careful not to overdo myself, over-extend myself in terms of practice, in terms of preparation, and saving as much as I can for four rounds of 18 holes.

"It's something that I'm very much aware of, not to overdo it, over extend myself. There's a lot of pressure at the moment."

McGinley has spoken with European captain Langer on three occasions in the last fortnight and while he wasn't going to divulge the minutiae of their discussions, he did admit: "A lot of what he said is private but it's fair to say that he's obviously pleased with my form at the moment.

"He's made it quite clear that he'd like to have me on the team. I'm obviously keen to be on the team."

He retains a positive outlook despite his precarious position. "Destiny is in my hands - if I win the tournament I'm in the team."

McDowell's hopes are altogether more tenuous as he basically needs to win the BMW International Open to catapult his way into the team. The winner's cheque this week is 300,000 with 200,000 for second and €112,680 for third, highlighting the scope for musical chairs amongst the contenders.

The tournament has attracted a high-quality field that includes a former winner in John Daly, Clarke, Harrington, Thomas Bjorn, Colin Montgomerie - he pipped Harrington in 2001 - and US Open champion Retief Goosen, who returns to tournament golf. The course yields plenty of birdie opportunities, a fact reflected in the fact six players have shot 62 during the history of the tournament, including Clarke, and Daly's winning total in 2001 was 27 under regulation figures.

Last year's tournament was won on 19-under by Westwood and a glance at the final standings that day suggests several chasing Ryder Cup prospects are going to like the arena of battle. Paul Casey finished in a tie for third alongside Jacquelin, Howell and Brian Davis were tied 11th and McGinley finished tied 17th.

The other avenue open to the aspirants is to receive one of Langer's two wild card choices but the accepted wisdom from Tour sources is that those have been earmarked for Montgomerie and the in-form Luke Donald.

McGinley, though, would have a strong case and Langer is probably hoping the Irishman makes the team by right, rather than facing a more difficult decision.

One player who almost certainly won't make the team is Jesper Parnevik, who won't be travelling to Germany instead fulfilling a corporate commitment in Chicago.

As for Ireland's representation in Munich, joining Harrington, Clarke, McGinley and McDowell are Peter Lawrie, Gary Murphy and Damien McGrane.