Walker Cup skipper Garth McGimpsey rubbished claims of bias against Irish players and roared: "I'm looking for winners."

High profile figures in the Irish game are miffed that only 28 Irishmen have been capped since the competition began in 1922.

Calls have been made for a move to a Ryder Cup style selection system instead of the traditional six - man selection committee.

But the Ulster legend dismissed those claims are "rubbish" as he prepared for the biggest test of his career.

He said: "If the players have been good enough to play Walker Cup then they have been picked. I don't know what's happened in the past.

"I had to struggle myself to get onto the team and perhaps it has been slightly harder for Irish players because we have had to travel across to the UK to be seen by the selectors.

An Irishman has played in every edition since 1981 but feelings are still running high amongst former Irish greats who failed to get the call up.

"They have always made it tough for Irish players," said a former Ryder Cup star. "When the likes of Darren Clarke can't get picked you have to ask questions. "

"The R and A selectors will never give up their power," said another former Ireland international. "An Order of Merit system would be fair but they love their little bit of power and they won't give it up."

Padraig Harrington, Paul McGinley and Philip Walton have all played Walker Cup golf with the likes of Joe Carr becoming a legend because of his multiple appearances.

But McGimpsey does not believe that an Order of Merit system, with points for high finishes in designated tournaments, would be an improvement.

"An Order of Merit is one way, but what would I do then? I think Sam Torrance would rather have picked all of his Ryder Cup team. I want to have guys that are coming into form or are in form rather than played that played well in one event and then held on.

"We have four selectors, a chairman and a captain. We go to all the tournaments and I think we will come up with the best team possible. That's what I'm aiming for anyway."

McGimpsey was British Amateur champion at Royal Dornoch in 1985 and a member of the Walker Cup side that made history in 1989 by becoming the first side to beat the Americans on their own patch.

His record of four West of Irelands ('84, '88, '93, '96), three Easts ('88, 94, '98), five Norths ('78, '84, '91, '92, '93) and one Irish Close championship ('88) is right up there with the greats of Irish golf.

And he firmly believes that he will pick the best side to take on the Americans, regardless of nationality.

"All I can do is pick the best team and set them on their way," he said. "In my mind there is nobody on this team at the moment.

"There are a few guys that might have to do a bit less than others because they have a good track record and maybe have played in the past but if one of those guys has a bad season he will struggle."

McGimpsey's job begins with a squad session at Ganton early next month before the season proper gets underway.

Then he will spend every weekend for the next three months checking out the best golfing talent in Britain and Ireland.

He explained: "We are looking for winners really. There are more than 30 guys in the panel an plenty more who have a chance to get on this side. No doors have been closed and I want to see as many people as possible.

"We'll be at all the big events - the Lytham Trophy, the Irish Open at Royal Dublin, St Andrews Links trophy, the Amateur Championship, the Scottish Strokeplay, Welsh strokeplay, the Berkshire and the European Team Championships in Holland to name but a few.

"We're just looking for the best golfers we can find - in matchplay or strokeplay. I don't believe in people being better at matchplay or strokeplay. If somebody wins a 72 hole strokeplay tournament it's going to be to his credit."

Standards have been rising in recent years with three wins for Great Britain and Ireland from the last four editions.

"There are more good players to choose from here now," he admitted. "In years gone by we had two or three good players but for the last while we have had two or three exceptional players. Unfortunately, they have all turned pro."

Athlone's Colm Moriarty is one of the Irish favourites to take a place in the side but McGimpsey won't be giving any pep talks as the contenders prepare for the new season

"They don't need motivating. In fact, they need to be held back in some way. Guys over practice or get too excited about the event," said the skipper

Appointed last year for a two-year term, McGimpsey is almost certain to be offered a second bite of the cherry with an away match in Chicago in 2005.

If he's successful he could yet skipper the side on home soil when the event comes to Ulster and Royal County Down in 2007

"That's a long way off," he said. "But it's a magnificent course and I'm delighted for Newcastle. It will be a great spectacle. It was a great occasion at Portmarnock in 1991 and we generally do things very well here in Ireland.

"But Ganton is first and I really want to win there very badly. I'm putting a lot of time and effort into it. I didn't enjoy being on a losing Walker team. It's a very hard trophy to win. I've won it as a player and I'd love to do it as a captain.

"I don't know how much effect I'm going to have but I think I'm pretty good at putting players together in a foursomes situation. I'm very confident, but golf is fickle."

(Mac)

Paul McGinley got one of the best drivers in the world - and spun out of the Sunningdale Foursomes.

The Ryder Cup hero teamed up with former F1 world champion Nigel Mansell for the famous event this week but crashed out in the second round.

McGinley and Mansell won their first round match by two and one but went down by four and three in the next round.

But the Dubliner has admitted that Mansell's advice on concentration helped him sink the putt that won the Ryder Cup.

"We became friends and he would tell me what it was like for him in a car moving at 200 miles an hour," said McGinley. "He would tell me how he had to get into a zone.

"Eddie Jordan set up a meeting between us and Nigel has been wonderful for me."

(Des)
Des Smyth is raking it in on the Champions Tour - thanks to his driving distance off the tee.

The 50 year old has banked an average of $58,000 a week since he joined the mega-bucks American tour.

An average drive of over 270 yards leaves Smyth amongst the bigger hitters.

He also hit one of the longest drives of the year - a 335-yard whopper - as he picked up $58,000 in the SBC Classic in California last weekend.

The Drogheda man has pocketed $233,713 for 13th place on the money list and needs to stay in the top 31 to keep his card.

(West)

Freezing Sligo promises some hot competition for this year's West of Ireland Amateur Open Championship.

The traditional season-opener at Rosses Point is often lashed by Atlantic storms during Easter week.

But with the handicap limit likely to come at 1.4 ­ the lowest in its 81-year history ­ defending champion Stuart Paul faces stiff competition in the Standard Life sponsored event.

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© Brian Keogh 2003

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