Ryder Cup weak link Paul McGinley prepared for next week's Belfry showdown by raging: I'm no mental case.

Out of form McGinley has plummeted out of the World's top 50 and lost the fantastic form that saw him win the Wales Open and claim 11 top ten finishes on his way to a Ryder Cup spot last year.

Since the postponement of the matches because of the September 11 atrocities, McGinley's game as fallen apart.

He has dropped from 35th to 70th in the world and is 49th in the Volvo Order of Merit with eight missed cuts and just two top tens from 18 events in Europe.

But he refuses to admit that his problems are in his mind.

He said: "It's definitely technical rather than mental. If it was mental I would be playing well in practice and then poorly in tournaments but I have been having really bad practice rounds too.

"This time last year I was at the top of my confidence and obviously I'm not playing as well at the moment, but that's golf. It goes in cycles. One minute you feel like you will be an automatic top ten and then next you are struggling.

"I just went too far down the road with my game technically and paid the price. I started using my hands and arms too much and didn't use my legs the way I should have but I've rectified that."

The Americans are likely to target out of form players like McGinley, Lee Westwood and Welshman Phillip Price but he's not concerned.

"How do I feel like being targeted as one of the weaker players? I suppose we'll be doing that with some of the Americans too. It doesn't bother me and I have enough to worry about trying to concentrate on my own game.

"My individual goal is just to win the Ryder Cup. I don't care if I lose all my matches but we win the Cup itself in the end because it is a team game."

He also refuses to accept that he has become so obsessed with the Ryder Cup for the past 12 months that he hasn't been able to concentrate on his own game

"I haven't been obsessed with the Ryder Cup," he said. "But it's been at the back of my mind for sure. I've been much more concerned about how poorly I have been hitting the ball than the Ryder Cup.

"I do as many things as I can to relax. I'm a big West Ham fan and I love Celtic too but every job has its up and downs.

"As for the pairings, Sam has to decide who will play together but I'd like to think that I will be paired with Padraig at some stage."

He joked: "Maybe our thick Dublin accents will confuse the opposition because it has been too long since we did Irish at school to speak in Irish."

If McGinley is no unduly worried about his Ryder Cup debut he IS hurt that he was left out of the field for this week's American Express Championship at Mount Juliet.

Last year's edition in Louisville was cancelled after the September 11 attacks when McGinley and the other players were already at the venue.

But the 35-year-old Dubliner believes the organisers should have invited all the members of BOTH Ryder Cup teams to Mount Juliet this week.

Five Europeans and two Americans failed to qualify for the Amex championship and have had to sit out the important week before the Ryder Cup

McGinley said: "Obviously I'd prefer to be there in Ireland playing in a World Championship event but I've nobody but myself to blame.

"I was in the Belfry on Thursday for a practice round and that's a nice feeling, to be part of a Ryder Cup squad.

"But I still think I should have been invited to the American Express Championship along with all the other members of the Ryder Cup side.

"I think the organisers have made a big mistake by not inviting the members of both Ryder Cup teams to take part the week before the Ryder Cup."

With nowhere to play this week, McGinley took the opportunity to get an early look at the Belfry before the Ryder Cup clash.

But as a huge GAA fan, the Dubliner admits that he won't be watching fellow Irishmen Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke in action at the Kilkenny course.

"Sure, I'd prefer to be there in Kilkenny but I certainly won't be watching any of it on television on Sunday," he said. "I'll be watching Kerry and Armagh in the All Ireland Football final, make no mistake."

Normally a player who likes to shoot at the pins, McGinley feels that the matchplay format of the Ryder Cup definitely suits the Europeans.

"It's a lot more aggressive form of golf. You can go for it far more than you would in a strokeplay event and that means that's good for Europe because we are more experienced at that style golf. We have all played a lot of matchplay over the years.

"But the standard of golf is going to be very high and there will be a lot of birdies. But it is probably going to come down to who putts the best really.

"As for the Belfry people think that it is an easy course but having played it the other day I can say that it is as tough as ever. I t looks the best I have ever seen it.

"It's in absolutely perfect condition and anybody who thinks it's an easy course is kidding themselves."

McGinley's family will be at the Belfry to support him along with hundreds of Irish fans on a course where he has played well in the past. Last season he finished second at the Birmingham course in the Benson and Hedges International Open. He'd prefer to forget how he missed the cut there this term.

(Walker)

Irish quartet Justin Kehoe, Noel Fox, Gary Maybin and Colm Moriarty have been included in the 2003 Walker Cup squad.

Skipper Garth McGimpsey is cranking up to defend the title at Ganton from 6-7 September next year and Ireland has a great chance of adding to its historic role.

England's Gary Wolstenholme, already a four-times Walker Cup player, has also been named in the squad of 24 players.

Kehoe, the world University Champion, Fox and Moriarty will be joined by Andy McCormick for the World Amateur Team championships in Kuala Lumpur next month.

(Aidan)
Mount Juliet green keeper Aidan O'Hara can't wait for the American Express Championship to finish.

"There is so much that can happen to greens,: he said. "We are trying to keep them at the same pace, 11.5 on the stimpmeter, which is what the European Tour wants. We could go far higher but they have more pin position options that way."

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© Brian Keogh 2003

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