McGinley craves a Belfry moment

If you have to tee-off at 6.39am it helps to live a quarter of a mile from the course. When Sunningdale was chosen as the venue for international qualifying for The Open at Troon, Paul McGinley might have danced a little Irish jig. The Berkshire course is home from home.

McGinley flew around the Old Course in two hours, 50 minutes, scoring a 70, and then returned a 65 over his second 18 holes on the New Course for one of the best aggregates of the day. In a star-studded field - Colin Montgomerie qualified by one stroke, Justin Rose missed by one - McGinley left nothing to chance, employing a local caddie, John Pidgeon. "Sunningdale changes a lot during the year with the growth of the gorse and the heather,'' McGinley said, "and John knew how the courses were playing.''

McGinley and his golden labrador Febe are a familiar sight at Sunningdale, where the doglegs are taken in their stride. "In the winter I play there about three or four times a week," he said. "They don't have professionals as members but they give me courtesy of the club. They are very good to me. I play with the members and on a good day I might make £50, but I can also lose. It's very competitive.''

Almost as competitive as his duels with another Sunningdale habitué, Sam Torrance. "Sam is the king there. When I played with him and Darren Clarke we were left shaking our heads. He shot 63 and 64. I've never beaten Sam at Sunningdale.'' Torrance was first reserve in qualifying but never struck a blow, and instead of playing at Troon will be commentating for TV.

The mass and late withdrawal of players from the US qualifying event has left a bitter taste. "Nobody is more embarrassed about it than the R & A, who went out of their way to be as fair as possible," McGinley, who is on the Tour players' committee, said. "They tried to do the right thing but were let down.''

It was under Torrance's captaincy of Europe's Ryder Cup team at The Belfry two years ago that McGinley, at a stroke, entered golf's pantheon. In a gripping instalment, the Dubliner holed a curling 10-footer on the 18th against Jim Furyk for the putt that won the cup. McGinley ended up in the lake, draped in the Irish flag. He sensed he would be the history man when his drive at the last finished two feet from where, in 1989, Christy O'Connor Jnr produced a two-iron to die for in his victory over Fred Couples. The spot is marked for posterity.

Thus McGinley joined the list of all-Ireland Ryder Cup heroes, whose feats include Eamonn Darcy's nerve-tingler on the 18th at Muirfield Village in 1987 to beat Ben Crenshaw; O'Connor's stroke of genius; and Philip Walton's cliff-hanger at Oak Hill in Rochester, where he accounted for Jay Haas at the last. It seems daft that, in a match lasting three days, one shot can make or break a player, but McGinley was the right man in the right place at the right time.

The only memento he has left is the putter. He gave everything - sweaters, shirts, the lot - to family and friends. His golf bag was auctioned on behalf of a Catholic priest in San Francisco and raised $4,000. "I put the putter in a safe place. TaylorMade made me one that is very similar. They've got a museum in California and the original will go there, but I'd like to get it back in 50 years' time for the nostalgia. The Ryder Cup was an unbelievable experience, and for me it was a fairytale. I would love to play in it again, but if I don't it's not a disgrace.''

McGinley made the 2002 team after winning the Wales Open at Celtic Manor on the fifth hole of a sudden-death play-off in a tournament reduced by rain to 36 holes. It was his third Tour victory and his first since 1997. "The standard rises dramatically every year. You think you've played well but then you're amazed at how many good scores there are. We're going to have the strongest Ryder Cup team ever.''

At 37, McGinley has amassed more than £4m in prize money, which is not bad for a late starter. His first love was Gaelic football, closely followed by football and hurling. "I was on the verge of making the Dublin team, which would be like playing for Manchester United, but then I twisted a knee. After an operation I was on crutches for six months, and the doctor told me never to play again.''

So the 5ft 7in McGinley turned to golf, not as fast as Gaelic football but a lot safer. He caddied for his father, Mick, at Naas and when he began to play regularly he got his handicap down to one within a year. He moved to San Diego to play golf and take a degree in international business. "I applied for a scholarship but I wasn't good enough. I borrowed £5,000 to get to California, and in my second year they gave me a scholarship.''

He won the Irish and Scottish Youth Championships, and in 1991 he and Liam White beat Phil Mickelson and Bob May in the foursomes of the Walker Cup at Portmarnock. When The Open was last held at Troon, seven years ago, and Justin Leonard managed to avoid putting a foot into a single bunker, McGinley was joint 65th. On his only previous visit he was third in the Scottish Amateur.

McGinley, whose house at Sunningdale used to back on to Clarke's, was joint 10th last Sunday in the European Open at the K Club near Dublin, and was the leading Irish player. For most of the time he lives in the slipstream of Clarke and Padraig Harrington. "I'm well behind the boys, but I don't think it hurts me. I'm not entirely comfortable with it, but it drives me on.''

Clarke and McGinley are stablemates at International Sports Management, but they do not share an interest in either backing or owning racehorses. "I've never owned as much as a leg and I never will,'' McGinley said. "I've seen too many people end up brokenhearted. My dad owns four horses and that's quite enough.''

Mick McGinley won the Galway Plate last season with Nearly A Moose; Paul McGinley kept his hand in his pocket.