Paul Noel McGinley (born 16 December 1966) is an Irish professional golfer who has won four events on the European Tour. At the 2002 Ryder Cup, he famously holed a ten-foot putt on the 18th hole in his match against Jim Furyk at The Belfry which won the Ryder Cup for Europe.[2] He was the winning captain of Europe in the 2014 Ryder Cup and the first Irishman to captain Europe's Ryder Cup side.[3]
Early years
McGinley was raised in Rathfarnham and was educated at St Mary's BNS and Coláiste Éanna. His father Mick – who is from Dunfanaghy – played Gaelic football for Donegal, while his mother Julia comes from Rathmullan.[4] McGinley himself was born in Dublin and studied at Dublin Institute of Technology. After his knee injury McGinley turned his full attention to golf.[5] McGinley later said that when he played golf as part of a team it helped to raise his game to another level. He credited his experience of Gaelic football for his passion for team sports and suggested it played a part in why he was appointed European captain for the 2014 Ryder Cup.[6] He later attended the United States International University in San Diego on a golf scholarship, where he gained a master's degree in marketing.[7]
McGinley won the 1989 Irish Amateur Close Championship and the 1991 South of Ireland Championship at Lahinch Golf Club. He was selected for the 1991 Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team at Portmarnock Golf Club, just north of Dublin, where a strong American team that included Phil Mickelson beat Britain & Ireland 14–10.[8]
McGinley eventually won his first title on the European Tour at the 1996 Hohe Brücke Open (formerly known as the Austrian Open). In 1997 he won the World Cup of Golf for Ireland with Pádraig Harrington (who attended the same secondary school, Coláiste Éanna, as McGinley).
At the 2001 Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open, McGinley won the tournament on the fifth extra hole of a playoff in an event that was so badly disrupted by torrential rain that it was reduced to just 36 holes. After his victory, McGinley quipped: "Goran Ivanišević said God sent the rain for him at Wimbledon and maybe he sent it for me too!"[11]
McGinley's best finish in one of the four major championships is a tie for 6th place in the 2004 PGA Championship. He has featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking. His best season on the European Tour was in 2005, when he finished third on the Order of Merit. He made the cut in 21 out of 23 events that year and gained his fourth and, to date, last European Tour victory in the season-ending Volvo Masters at the Valderrama Golf Club in Spain. McGinley started his final round four shots off the lead. He shot a final round of 67 for the biggest individual tournament win of his career, finishing two strokes ahead of Spain's Sergio García.[12]
Before his victory in the 2005 Volvo Masters, McGinley had three runner-up finishes in tournaments that year, finishing second to Ángel Cabrera in the BMW Championship at Wentworth and losing in the final of the HSBC World Match Play Championship at the same venue to New Zealander Michael Campbell (2 & 1). In an absorbing contest, Campbell clinched the title with a half on the penultimate hole after McGinley had driven wildly into the trees on the previous two holes. McGinley later said he was "hurt like you can't imagine" after losing in the final. He said: "I fought as hard as I could and I'm bitterly disappointed."[13]
At the 2005 TCL Classic, McGinley shot a final round of 63 to force a sudden-death playoff with Paul Casey. However, on the second extra hole Casey holed a 25-foot birdie putt from the back of the green to win the title.[14]
At the 2008 KLM Open played in the Netherlands, McGinley shot a final round of 64 to finish runner-up in the tournament, behind Darren Clarke.[15]
Ryder Cup
McGinley holding the Ryder Cup trophy in 2014.
McGinley made three consecutive Ryder Cup appearances in 2002, 2004 and 2006, with Europe being victorious each time. In the 2002 Ryder Cup, his ten-foot putt on the 18th hole in his match against Jim Furyk secured the ½ point Europe needed for victory; the team eventually won 15½ to 12½. In the 2006 Ryder Cup at The K Club in Ireland, McGinley offered a handshake and conceded a 20-foot putt for a half to J. J. Henry on the 18th green of his last day singles match because he feared his opponent might have been put off when a streaker ran across the green.[16]
In May 2013, McGinley gave European player Sergio García his backing following a public feud that the Spaniard had with Tiger Woods and a controversial "fried chicken" remark that García made about Woods. In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, McGinley said: "I think there's a personality clash and they don't particularly like each other's company. For me, it's no big deal. He apologised for it and, as far as I'm concerned, we move on. People make mistakes and say things all the time that they regret and didn't mean."[20] Garcia would eventually qualify for McGinley’s European squad, ahead of the Ryder Cup in September 2014.
At the 2014 Ryder Cup in Scotland, McGinley’s European team defeated the American team captained by Tom Watson with a winning margin of 161⁄2 to 111⁄2.[21]
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