McGinley enjoying Open thrill
The Open has not traditionally been a happy hunting ground for Paul McGinley but that does not mean he will not enjoy the week at St Andrews.
In 12 previous appearances his best performance is joint 14th in 1996 at Royal Lytham and he has only two other top-30 finishes.
He has missed the cut in half of all the Opens he has played in but the two-time Ryder Cup winner will hope to rediscover some of the form he showed the last time the event was staged on the Old Course five years ago when a tied-20th position represented his second-best effort in pursuit of the Claret Jug.
“I’m looking forward to it. In my opinion it is the biggest tournament of the year and obviously it is a big thrill to be playing in it,” McGinley said.
“And any time it is at St Andrews it is extra special.”
The 38-year-old declined to give his thoughts on the changes made to the course in an attempt to combat the progress of equipment technology and make it more of a challenge by bringing many of the 112 bunkers back into play.
However, judging my his response it appears he feels the R&A should not have tinkered with the famous old links by constructing five new tees to add 164 yards.
“You’ve got to get on with it. Whatever I say is not going to change anything so I am just accepting it,” he added.
But even with the course being lengthened to 7,279 yards McGinley does not believe that will necessarily benefit the big hitters.
“A lot of it is ball control, a lot of it is a good short game, particularly good putting,” he explained.
“Whoever does that will celebrate a great win at the end of the week.”
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