Paul McGinley clinched his third Smurfit Irish PGA championship in Westport yesterday ­ without having to hit a shot.

Play was abandoned and the championship reduced to 54 holes as the course was lashed by storm force winds, hailstones and freezing rain.

As balls were blown off greens and players found it hard even to walk, play was suspended twice before Irish Region PGA secretary Michael McCumiskey decided to call a halt.

He said: "The first suspension was because balls were moving after players had played their second shots and then when they were trying to putt. They couldn't take a stance on the green.

"When we resumed again after the suspension there were hailstones, balls were being blown away and players were unable to walk. Then we heard that there were thunderstorms on the way too and decided reluctantly to cancel the fourth round."

Only four players managed to finish their rounds yesterday and the final three groups failed to even make it onto the course.

But McGinley, who stormed into a three stroke lead after an eight under par 65 on Saturday, wasn't complaining as he picked up the winner's cheque for ¤21,078.

"I'm pleased to win my third championship," he said. "It's nice. But on Saturday I felt I had to shoot a good score to get ahead because it did cross my mind that maybe Sunday would be cancelled. I had been watching the forecast and Sunday's forecast had been particularly bad."

He added with a laugh: "It's not like it was a plan or anything like that but I agree with the decision. When the balls are moving on the green and there are hailstones it's just impossible.

"At seven o'clock this morning there were hailstones pounding on my bedroom window and I thought it was the end of the world. There was a sea of rain and mist coming in from Croagh Patrick.

"I've seen worse rain but I haven't seen a worse combination of rain, hailstones, wind, cold I mean this is as bad as it gets."

But McGinley had a word of comfort for the club members who had worked so hard to bring the top Irish pros to Westport.

He said: "I really feels sorry for the people in the golf club and the sponsors and to get slapped in the face like this is really tough for them. You can feel the disappointment in the club.

"But a win is a win, I've said that before. But I've had three good weeks with the Masters and the Seve Trophy and I'll have a week off now and I'll miss the French Open. It's a tournament that I would have like to play but I committed to this tournament and the Seve Trophy and if I play next week then where do I take a week off?

I'll play the Benson and Hedges obviously because it's on the Ryder Cup course and I obviously want to play the TPC and the PGA championship. I know from experience that I don't play well in my fourth or fifth week in a row so you've got to miss tournaments that you don't want to miss. It's like catching fish, all the good tournaments come in a row.

Getting a date for this tournament is becoming a problem because we are now playing on the world stage, rather than the European stage.

On a scale of one to ten this is a nine, as bad as it gets really. I'm not drained. I'm worried about how I'll feel in six weeks time. I been overseas a lot and because I've worn myself out in the past and it's something I'm very wary of. I might make some changes to my schedule based on how I feel in the last few weeks.

I knew it wasn't going to be a case of coming out all guns blazing at the start of the year. It was a case of getting used to different courses and experiences and travelling a bit more.

I felt I need that experience but now I'm coming to courses that I know and

Unlike three years ago I can now chisel out scores when I'm not playing at my best. Like this week, shooting 65 yesterday was great.

But if you talk to all the top players they only play two or three tournaments a year, that's the challenge of the game. That's the secret. Not the hit and miss but to score when you're not hitting the ball well. It's something that I'm learning.

If you look after your game the money looks after itself.

John Dwyer: It's nice to finish second. But you don't get into position to win an Irish championship too often. I felt I could have done well and if I could shoot three or four under that I could put pressure on him. There are a few hole out there that you can take double bogeys on but we'll never know now.

It was a good call on the day. But it really wasn't a fair test of golf. Luckily we didn't have to start.

I head that Gordon Fairweather's had a 20 foot putt on the ninth and hit it to a foot and then saw it blow all the way back.

Raymie Burns had a putt on the 12th green and he hit it 15 feet left to of the hole for break for the wind and it finished six feet to the right."

SMURFIT IRISH PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

(Championship reduced to 54 holes due to adverse weather conditions)

213 P McGinley (The K Club) 76, 72, 65 (¤21,078)
216 J Dwyer (Ashbourne) 73, 73, 70 (¤13,460)
217 P Walton (Westpoint Fitness Centre) 70, 79, 68 (¤9,016)
218 D McGrane (Wexford) 72, 76, 70 (¤6,349)
219 D Mooney (Laganview Golf Centre) 73, 78, 68 (¤4,826)
220 H O'Neill (Connemara) 77, 77, 66 (¤4,445)
221 B McDaid (Rathsallagh) 72, 78, 71; D Smyth (Unattached) 71, 77, 73 (¤3,715)
223 F Howley (Ballyliffin) 74, 78, 71; P Leonard (Fintona) 75, 76, 72; M Bannon (Bangor) 73, 76, 74; (¤2,540)
224 L Robinson (Donegal) 77, 77, 70; G Madden (Galway D.R.) 74, 78, 72;
D Hayes (Dungarvan) 71, 82, 71; E Doyle (Heath) 77, 75, 72; N Manchip (Royal Dublin Golf Club) 76, 75, 73; D Ryan (Cork) 75, 75, 74; E Logue (Hilton Templepatrick Golf Club) 68, 78, 78;
225 J Heggarty (Spawell D.R.) 75, 80, 70; E Darcy (Druids Glen) 76, 79, 70; M Allan (Leopardstown Golf Centre) 78, 76, 71; P Russell (Allen Park) 72, 80, 73; M Sludds (Enniscorthy) 75, 76, 74; D O'Sullivan (St. Margaret's) 73, 77, 75;
226 J Bolger (Kilkenny) 79, 77, 70; L Walker (Dundalk) 78, 78, 70; B Kerley (Nuremore) 72, 82, 72; S O'Grady (Black Bush) 77, 77, 72; R Hutton (Downpatrick) 74, 76, 76;
227 M Collins (Charleville) 78, 79, 70; B McGovern (Headfort) 74, 80, 73;
228 G Loughrey (Knockbracken Golf Academy) 78, 78, 72; P McGuirk (Co. Louth) 76, 78, 74; J Dignam (Slade Valley) 75, 76, 77; R Symes (Royal Belfast) 73, 77, 78;
229 B Kelleher (Ballybunion) 78, 79, 72; R Burns (Newlands) 78, 78, 73; G Fairweather (Knock) 80, 76, 73; I Kerr (Carlow Golf Range) 77, 78, 74; S Hamill (Lisburn) 75, 80, 74;
230 J Kelly (Ward Golf Club) 78, 79, 73; N Callan (City of Derry) 76, 81, 73;
231 V Teague (Moyola Park) 79, 78, 74; C Barry (Donabate) 78, 79, 74; S Thornton (Royal Co Down) 79, 77, 75; G McNeill (Royal Portrush) 76, 80, 75;
232 J Kinsella (Skerries) 79, 78, 75; J Greenway (Portadown) 78, 79, 75; R Whitford (Knock) 76, 79, 77;
234 P Farrell (Ardglass) 75, 81, 78; R O'Dell (Village Green) 77, 78, 79;
235 G Burke (The Curragh) 77, 80, 78; A Manson (Lisburn) 77, 79, 79; L McCool (Slieve Russell) 77, 79, 79;
236 D Walker (Foxrock) 74, 80, 82
237 P Gray (Holywood) 77, 77, 83

Senior
1, Paul Leonard; 2, Paddy McGuirk; 3, Jimmy Kinsella

Assistants
1 Gary Madden, Neil Manchip, David Ryan (tied)

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© Brian Keogh 2002

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