Nobody at Paul McGinley’s old club was surprised when he holed that putt to win the Ryder Cup.

They’d seen him do it a thousand times before.

In fact, the young McGinley got in so much putting practice from the ten-foot range at Grange in Dublin that the members started to complain that he wearing out the putting green.

“He’d leave these big footmarks on one corner of the putting green,” recalled former team mate David Walker, now a club professional at Foxrock.

“He could be there for hours, grooving the same putt over and over. A few of the members complained because they were afraid that he was going to wear a bare patch.

“He had a fantastic drive to succeed. It didn’t surprise me that he knocked in that putt because he has got a lot of determination and a lot of bottle.”

McGinley has often been unfairly dismissed as a guy who made the very most of modest talents but his old golfing buddies believe that he always had that special something.

“He hit shots we could never hit,” said close friend Brian Shaw. “Just ask Jody Fanagan and Pat McInerney about that Barton Shield match at Portmarnock back in the 80s.

“We won in the end because Paul hit a couple of long irons over the closing holes that were just unbelievable. He one incredible shot out of a divot and we all looked at each other because I certainly knew I could never hit those shots.”

But apart from talent, McGinley also had a burning desire to make it that set him apart from his mates at Grange, near Rathfarnham in south Dublin.

While buddies like former British Boys champion Leslie Walker and Shaw – now professionals – were lashing drivers and playing trick shots, McGinley was methodically grinding away next to them on the practice ground with just one or two clubs.

“He never wasted time,” said Shaw. “He loved the crack the same as anyone else and he has a great sense of fun but he was always working on something.”

Shaw and McGinley would spend hours hanging out in the back of the professional’s workshop, listening to legendary teacher Wattie Sullivan tell golf stories.

“We were golf shop rats. We weren’t there to learn how to become pros or anything,” added Shaw. “We just wanted to hear all the stories about Christy O’Connor and that kind of thing.”

Wattie Sullivan admits that McGinley never spoke to him about going pro, but secretly he dreamt of playing on the tour.

“Inside, he knew damn well he was aiming for that. He always wanted to play on the tour and he was the most ‘professional’ junior ever in Irish golf,” said Shaw.

“But he never go the credit he deserved, even when he won the South of Ireland in 1991. A bunch of top Australians came over including Robert Allenby and Paul beat their hot shot in the final, a guy called Philip Johns. He just took him to the cleaners but because nobody knew him Paul never got the full credit.“

McGinley’s Walker cup appearance at Portmarnock in 1991 ended in defeat but he had the satisfaction of getting one over on superstar Phil Mickelson and partner Bob May with a one hole foursomes win in partnership with Liam White.

It was a moment of great satisfaction for Donal Moriarty, the current President of Grange.

Moriarty drove McGinley and his other team-mates to countless Youths events up and down the country in the eighties, pushing them to greater success.

“Paul’s father was a member of Naas but it was too far to commute for Paul so we asked him to come in to the Grange and luckily for us he did.

Recalled Moriarty: “Paul was always a great golfer but he put a lot of time into practice. He would go out there to the practice ground in the morning and take sandwiches with him and then stay there all day.

“He won the Close in ‘89 and was on the Irish team and won all his matches playing at number one in the Home Internationals.

“He reminded me of Tom Craddock really. The same trajectory and always straight up the middle.”

David Walker, his brother Leslie, Pat Groarke, Brian Shaw and Dermot O’Brien formed the nucleus of a side that won five Leinster and three All Ireland titles at Youth level at Grange.

While Leslie Walker was the star of the show, winning the British Boys title around that time, McGinley was always the underdog in their personal battles.

Walker would play ambitious, spectacular shots from the rough with a five iron while McGinley recovered with the wedge before going in with an eight iron.

“That’s the way Paul played then,” recalled Ray Roche, a life long friend and godfather to McGinley’s son Killian.

“He was professional even then. When he got stronger after he came back from a golf scholarship the States he could go for the green with a five iron but he was always a guy to get himself out of trouble first.”

Professional in everything he did, McGinley never wasted his time as a youngster.

“He would spend five hours on the practice grounds with two clubs,” recalled Shaw. “Leslie Walker and I would be lashing drivers and three irons but Paul was happy with the two clubs. He was always working on something.”

Ryder Cup team mate Padraig Harrington was also a regular visitor to Grange and the club is preparing to mark McGinley’s finest hour with a suitable thank you.

A plaque marking the spot where he practised those ten-foot putts as a teenager might be appropriate.

(Irish Open)
Next year’s Irish Open could be reduced to the status a minor event on the European Tour.

Since sponsorship by Murphy’s ended this year the organisers have struggled to find a replacement.

“It is not looking good,” a source told SunSport. “There are no bites. A tag of €5 million is a lot in the current economic climate.”

(Mac attack)
Ryder Cup heroes Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke had better watch out.

The statistics say that young gun Graeme McDowell is set to take over as Ireland’s number two.

As Padraig Harrington leads the way in Europe with a stroke average of 69.85, Clarke is 24th with 71.00 and McGinley 58th with 71.54.

McDowell is ranked an impressive 18th with an average of 70.92 for seven events.

(Alison No 1)
Curtis Cup star Alison Coffey clinched ILGU the Order of Merit for the third year in a row and announced: It’s back to the job for me.

The Warrenpoint player pipped Irish Close and Open champion Rebecca Coakley for the honour after taking a sabbatical to concentrate on her golf.

Coffey is now back to work and focussing on her career and engineering exams.

Heather Nolan (Shannon) and Karen Delaney (Carlow) shared the Junior Order of Merit title.

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© Brian Keogh 2002

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