Paul McGinley finds it hard to admit that he has been going through something of a slump.

Last year’s Ryder Cup hero prefers to call it a ‘flat period’ and clings to the belief that the graph will begin to ascend some time later his summer.

Hopefully for McGinley, his resurgence in form will coincide with the start of the qualifying period for the 2004 Ryder Cup, which will take place at Oakland Hills near Michigan.

The Dubliner will almost certainly be playing under the captaincy of Bernhard Langer if he makes the team for the second time.

And if anyone knows anything about coming through the tough times it’s the unflappable German whose attention to the tiny details borders on the obsessive.

At times Langer will carry two gloves of different thickness - a coarse one for ripping drives and a finer one for delicate pitches.

His faithful caddie Peter Coleman once gave him the yardage to the hole from a sprinkler head and was stunned to be asked, “Is that from the front or the back of the sprinkler?”

He has even played a chip shot from the bough of a tree in a vain attempt to save a shot.

Yet despite his quirks, Langer deserves respect for his achievements in the game.

He has overcome two cases of the putting yips and still managed to win the Masters tournament twice and make ten appearances in the biennial matchplay showpiece.

His golf speaks for itself but his great consistency and fighting spirit has helped him to win battles that most other players would have given up as lost.

Resilience and courage in the face of adversity are qualities that run in the Langer family. His father was a Czech-born immigrant who settled in Bavaria after jumping a Russian prisoner of war train bound for the icy wastes of Siberia.

Langer can in from the cold to win a 10th Ryder Cup cap at the Belfry last September. But at 45 he looks unlikely to make an 11th appearance as a player after putting his name forward this week to captain the side in 2004.

A swing change that hasn’t bedded in as quickly as he would like has forced him to accept that he just hasn’t quite got the game to contend for a place on the side for 2004.

“About two months ago I tried to make quite a major swing change. At first it felt quite awkward but it’s gradually feeling better and I’m hitting more good shots than bad ones,” he said.

“But they say you can’t commit to being captain and player. So last week I called the office and told them I would like to have the job and I’m available. I hope I get the job and that I’ll be good at it.”

The European Tour’s Tournament Players Committee, which will meet in Dublin during next week’s Nissan Irish Open, appears certain to ratify Langer in the skipper’s role for the next showdown with the Americans.

But despite the assurances of committee insiders who have told Langer that they job will be his, he won’t believe it until he sees it.

Three years ago he was sensationally denied a place in the Ryder Cup team at Brookline when Jesper Parnevik and Scot Andrew Coltart were handed the wild card places.

It was a psychological blow that could have killed a lesser man’s desire to bother trying to make the team again.

McGinley’s situation is different. But he has shares Langer’s desire to get the very best out of his game and has taken steps to make sure that he retains his place in the side.

“It’s never much fun finishing 40th every week,” he said. “But it’s better than missing cuts. I’m going through a bit of a flat period, not playing as well as I’d like to play or putting as well as I’d like to be putting. Hopefully I’ll get a run at some stage this season and take advantage of it.”

In the meantime he has taken on the services of a Kendal McWade, a Scottish golf pro who believes his ‘Instinctive Golf’ technique will help him regain his feel.

“I’m just looking for an edge,” McGinley said. “Darren goes up the psychological path. But it’s not psychological it’s physical. It’s just something that will help me get more feel with my game.”

McWade’s technique involves training yourself to trust your instincts and play your natural game without thinking about it.

“We all walk without thinking about it and can hit shots with no club in our hands - any shape you want,” said McWade. “What we are trying to do is use experiential learning to help golfers.

“Paul is trying to regain his feel and with time I think we can do that and rediscover that ability to hit any shot without having to think about it.”

McGinley’s decision to go to McWade to supplement the work he does with Bob Torrance would surely meet with the approval of Langer.

The German never blamed anyone but himself for his shortcomings. During his putting woes he quickly realised that the putter wasn’t to blame.

“It’s not the putter,” he said. “It’s the ‘puttee’.”

With a Ryder Cup skipper with that kind of common sense, Hal Sutton and his team will find it hard to win back the trophy.

Now all McGinley has to do is get back on the upward curve.

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© Brian Keogh 2002

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