McGrane's pragmatism serves him well

YOU DON'T always travel the straightforward route to achieve your life's goals. Yesterday, three Irishmen - two of them Major champions, all three of them winners on tour - came together on the first tee of the Killeen course with the waters gently lapping up to the rocks and the different roads travelled to this stage of their careers was apparent. No going straight from A to Z for them.

Pádraig Harrington studied as an accountant, played in three Walker Cups and made only one visit to Qualifying School before embarking on a journey which has reaped huge dividends, both financially and in terms of victories.

Graeme McDowell took the golfing scholarship route to the humidity of Alabama, played in one Walker Cup and, on turning professional, earned his tour card by affiliate membership when winning in just his fourth start on tour.

Both players have since savoured Major glory, Harrington on three occasions - in the 2007 and 2008 British Opens and the 2008 US PGA - and McDowell more recently in the US Open at Pebble Beach in June. They are marquee players wherever they go, their faces familiar to golf fans all over the globe. McGrane's route to a tour card was more traditional, starting out as an assistant club professional, moving on to club professional and sampling the mini-tours and Irish PGA pro-ams before chasing a dream that took five visits to Q-School. Yet, when McGrane, whose only tour win came in the 2008 China Open, saw he was paired with Ireland's two Major men for yesterday's first round, he allowed himself a smile. It was, for him, the perfect draw.

"I would sooner play with friends of mine like Pádraig. How we play and how we score is irrelevant. We are here to do the best we can and, obviously, in good company it is easy to find a score (out) there. Pádraig's been a friend and a support for a long time and I appreciate that. Graeme?

"Obviously I was in the pro shop in Wexford and he was in America doing his thing (in college), so we certainly came different routes. So I wouldn't know Graeme as well as I would know Pádraig and vice versa. But it was good out there, we had good banter between the three of us and enjoyed the spectacle and enjoyed the support."

By the end of the round, as all players and caddies exchanged handshakes, McGrane's six-under-par 65 had outscored both Harrington, who shot 68, and McDowell, who returned a 70.

McGrane got some breaks. But that's the nature of the game. On the seventh his second shot to the par five hit the rocks and ricocheted across to the other side. He made up and down for birdie, one of six in a bogey-free round.

"I hit a few balls that were pretty rubbish and then really backed them up with a decent shot. That's what I needed to do. I had to make the best of situations I'd prefer not to be in."

Then, McGrane added with a pragmatism which has served him so well, "you take the rough with the smooth. I hit some good shots that didn't work out and obviously I hit one or two rogue shots and managed to recover, but that's golf."

One day down. Nothing won yet. McGrane hasn't reached his final destination just yet.

Today's tee times;

7am O Henningsson (Swe), D Lee (Nzl), G Storm

7.10am M Lundberg (Swe), R Gonzalez (Arg), S Dodd

7.20am F Delamontagne (Fra), D Howell, A Hansen (Den)

7.30am V Dubuisson (Fra), David Higgins, J Quesne (Fra)

7.40am *Pat Murray, John Kelly, R Coles

7.50am A Canizares (Spn), M Brown (Nzl), S-y Noh (Kor)

8am Pádraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell, Damien McGrane

8.10am R Fisher, D Horsey, Shane Lowry

8.20am R Finch, M Fraser (Aus), Colm Moriarty

8.30am B Rumford (Aus), G Fernandez-Castano (Spn), C Wood

8.45am R McGowan, Michael Hoey, S Gallacher

8.55am S Dyson, D Drysdale, K Ferrie

9.05am M Foster, JM Lara (Spn), M Ilonen (Fin)

9.15am B Hebert (Fra), Gary Murphy, ET Johansen (Nor)

9.25am Damian Mooney, *Cian Curley, *Alan Dunbar

9.35am M Lafeber (Ned), F Zanotti (Par), P Larrazabal (Spn)

9.45am D Carter, N Fasth (Swe), N Dougherty

9.55am A Forsyth, M Campbell (Nzl), P Martin (Spn)

10.05am A Tampion (Aus), S O'Hara, C Gane

10.15am A Butterfield, P O'Malley (Aus), J Elson

10.30am F Aguilar (Chi), C Cevaer (Fra), S Webster

10.40am G Lockerbie, RJ Derksen (Ned), D Dixon

10.50am T Goya (Arg), J-F Lucquin (Fra), I Garrido (Spn)

11am B Lane, O Fisher, R McEvoy

11.10am P Waring, S Kapur (Ind), F Ohlsson (Swe)

11.20am T Aiken (Rsa), H Otto (Rsa), SSP Chowrasia (Ind)

11.30am R Ramsay, J Huldahl (Den), A Wall

11.40am B Dredge, P Sjoland (Swe), D Vancsik (Arg)

11.50am C Suneson (Spn), J Luiten (Ned), G Boyd

Noon *Paul Cutler, Philip Walton, Daniel Sugrue

12.15pm R Green (Aus), R Echenique (Arg), Paul McGinley

12.25pm Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke, R Davies

12.35pm S Khan, J Rose, F Molinari (Ita)

12.45pm P Lawrie, M Manassero (Ita), J Morrison

12.55pm Michael Collins, Gareth Maybin, Peter Lawrie

1.05pm G Havret (Fra), M Siem (Ger), J Edfors (Swe)

1.15pm A Canete (Arg), R Cabrera Bello (Spn), S Strange (Aus)

1.25pm A Kang (US), M Warren, P Hedblom (Swe)

1.35pm C Carranza (Arg), C Nirat (Tha), G Coetzee (Rsa)

1.45pm Simon Thornton, J Kamte (Rsa), Gary David Cullen

2pm P Archer, S Hutsby, A Coltart

2.10pm N Colsaerts (Bel), P Whiteford, J-B Gonnet (Fra)

2.20pm M Erlandsson (Swe), A Dodt (Aus), M Brier (Aut)

2.30pm J-F Lima (Por), R Bland, J Donaldson

2.40pm Barrie Trainor, P Baker, SE Bebb

2.50pm S Little, M Wiegele (Aut), P Broadhurst

3pm C Nilsson (Swe), D Lynn

3.10pm J Parry, MF Haastrup (Den), R Kulacz (Aus)

3.20pm M Ruiz (Par), A Haig (Rsa), P Price

3.30pm Peter Martin, C Rodiles (Spn), David Ryan