Harrington, McGinley and the World Cup victory that changed the face of Irish golf

“I can’t emphasise enough how good the dynamic was between us,” says Harrington now. “Paul was definitely the senior player, he captained it. He played perfect tee to green, never out of position – and I was all over the place, getting up and down from everywhere.

On this week, 25 years ago, they returned home to a Government reception, hosted by the Minister for Sport, Jim McDaid, and the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. Only a couple of months earlier Ireland had secured the right to stage the Ryder Cup for the first time, which would have been characterised as a triumph for Irish golf too, an acknowledgment of our standing in the game, at least through our lens.

But that environment was competitive too. They drove each other. Even during their glorious week in Kiawah Island, McGinley knew that Harrington was trying to beat him. “That’s his competitive nature – even though we were on the same team.” In the event, McGinley finished one shot ahead. Not wanting to lose either.

Below the shiny surface of the Irish players on tour, there are layers upon layers. When the Golfing Union of Ireland appointed John Garner as the first full-time coach for their elite panels, McGinley and Darren Clarke were in his original batch of players, nearly 40 years ago. McGinley rhymes off the list of Garner’s successors: David Jones, Howard Bennett, Pete Cowen and now Neil Manchip, an unbroken chain of careful, expert, passionate tuition.

And even then, who knows? When Britain and Ireland won the Walker Cup in 2015, there were five Irish players on the team. Of those, only Gary Hurley has a card for the DP World Tour next season; three of the others have been to that level, and dropped down.

padraig_h mcginleygolf Set the tone for McGinleys new hairstyle. I think it's fair to give that a plug.

IrishTimes UKIP polled 13% in the 2015 GE and got 1 MP. The Tories are gonna lose the next election, but they will probably have around 200 MPs

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