McGinley: All smiles in 2002

Going back to that putt and that image everyone remembers of McGinley: It was tough, it was slick, it was left to right and he banged it straight in the middle. The ultimate pressure putt and the ultimate prize.

Mark Roe
Quotes of the week

THE 37th RYDER CUP
LIVE ON SKY SPORTS
And in High Definition
September 16-21 2008
Valhalla GC, Louisville, Kentucky

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When you think about Paul McGinley, you primarily conjure up the image of him holing the winning putt at the Belfry in 2002. It is one of the great Ryder Cup moments.

He has been a great part of the Ryder Cup team and a great part of the Irish trinity with Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington but if he doesn't re-find the knack of winning again soon, he might not be at the 2008 event.

For all his Ryder Cup achievements - in 2006 he became the first European to win three back-to-back Ryder Cups - his personal record is simply not enough for someone of his status in the European game.

McGinley is such a wonderfully consistent ball-striker and has such a wonderful, simple and compact technique that doesn't buckle under pressure so it may come as a surprise that he has won only four times in his career.

Deficiency

You can only question his putting at the end of the day I suppose we all know it is his Achilles heel. He doesn't putt well enough and, like a lot of players, when it gets into your head that you are not holing enough putts, it becomes very difficult to win on a regular basis.

McGinley is a very average putter most of the time and that would explain why his last victory was the 2005 Volvo Masters. He lost in the final of the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth that year and a couple of other second-placed finishes besides.

Those results helped him into the 2006 Ryder Cup team but it has been quiet for him since then. A knee injury in 2006 was part of the problem but he is reported to be over that now and working hard on his fitness and his game.

All he needs really is that one ingredient that no one can give you... confidence. We talk about it so often and see it in abundance on the European Tour because when somebody finds some confidence, we watch them snowball, challenging week after week, winning events, big money and Ryder Cup points.

Pressure putts

Self belief comes with confidence. There is nothing you can do on the range or the practice green or even in the room with your sports' psychologist that can replace that feeling of doing something well under pressure, which gives you the confidence to go on and win.

From playing the professional game for 21 years, there is nothing to replace it. You can't buy it and it can't be taught, it can be only found on the golf course. Sure good play starts by hitting a few shots on the range but unless works under pressure and you walk off the course a winner, then you won't ever believe you are going to do it.

He is well down the Ryder Cup pecking order for this year's event and he will need to find some form with the putter if he is to make the plane to Valhalla.

We have said this of other players on these pages and if he comes in with a late surge, showing great form going into the Ryder Cup, winning an event or two and making it to 11, 12, 13 or even 14 on the Ryder Cup standings then he is a player that Nick Faldo might pick.

He has great experience of the Ryder Cup and in some of the toughest conditions his game has stood up to the test - holing the winning putt on the last hole of the Ryder Cup. Faldo knows he can do it and that has to count for something. But he won't pick him if he is not running into hot form as the cut-off point approaches.

Popular

Going back to that putt and that image everyone remembers of McGinley: It was tough, it was slick, it was left to right and he banged it straight in the middle. The ultimate pressure putt and the ultimate prize.

He is a very popular man on the European Tour, liked by his peers and fans alike, and there will be a lot of people wishing him well with his quest to reach this year's event.

He'll have to find some form though, especially with the putter, if we are see that big smile again and creating another piece of golfing history.