LYTHAM hole-in-one hero Paul McGinley was last night planning to act on some tips from Nick Faldo as he looked forward to a possible Open shoot-out with the former world No.1 this weekend.
Irishman McGinley produced early morning fireworks as he stormed to the head of the leaderboard with a course record-equalling 65. Faldo is also right in contention, of course, following a second impressive 68 yesterday.
McGinley, who aced the 164-yard ninth hole with a No.7-iron shot, later revealed how a clinic with Faldo just before he became a professional helped him enormously and still provides inspiration.
``Nick held a seminar at Welwyn Garden City for about 30 guys from the British Isles. It was a great experience,'' he recalled. ``Meeting Faldo like that took away the aura you tend to see around the top stars. He had dinner with us as well as talking to us and giving us tuition. He also played golf with us and I came away knowing he is an ordinary human being.
``He was just the same as everyone else and I learned you must feel that way about those sort of guys. Of course they are very good, but they are not invincible.
``For me, at that time, watching him hit shots and just being around him was a big help.''
McGinley would probably have been a top Gaelic footballer - the sport that was his first love - but for a bad left knee injury sustained in a training match in 1988. He was on crutches for nine months but, when he recovered, he concentrated on golf.
q.NEW Zealander Michael Campbell, joint third in the Open at St Andrews last year, was disqualified after signing for wrong scores on his card.
Campbell would have missed the halfway cut anyway after rounds of 75 and 76, but it was then spotted that penalty drops taken on the tenth and thirteenth holes were not marked on the card.
q.INJURY has put paid to Bernhard Langer's hopes of adding the Open title to his catalogue of success.
The German former world No.1 withdrew from the championship yesterday because of a shoulder complaint which contributed to a disappointing opening 75 on Thursday.
Langer, who had a lengthy break earlier this year because of an injured right shoulder, said this latest injury was totally different. ``That was a joint problem. This is muscular, probably a rotator cuff injury,'' he said.
The same injury, more often associated with American baseball pitchers, forced Tom Watson to withdraw before the start of the Open, and Langer admitted that on the practice range he could not take the club back above his waist.
``I couldn't make a backswing and if you can't make a backswing you can't play golf,'' he said.
q.AUSTRALIAN David Graham has resigned as captain of the International - or ``Rest of the World minus Europe'' - team which plays America in the Presidents Cup in September.
A statement from Brent Chalmers and Brian Allan, the executive directors of the South African and Australasian Tours, said the team members ``believe their chances of winning will be enhanced by the appointment of a new captain.''
Graham's decision follows a meeting of players, including Greg Norman, at Lytham this week and a replacement is likely to be announced within a week.
No European players are invited to join the rest of the world side because it was felt it would take some of the edge away from the Ryder Cup.
Graham, a former winner of both the US Open and US PGA championships, was captain when America won the inaugural match 20-12 in Washington in 1994.
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