Paul McGinley inspired by Ryder Cup memories in 'great' Senior Open start
Irishman shrugs off light preparation to sit handily-placed as Australian sets hot pace in Perthshire
Inspired by memories of his winning Ryder Cup captaincy at Gleneagles, Paul McGinley overcame limited preparation due to his broadcasting career to sit handily-placed after day one in the ISPS HANDA Senior Open.
Australian Cameron Percy took pride of place on a glorious day at the Perthshire venue by carding a seven-under-par 63 on the King’s Course, where the over-50s’ major is being held for a second time.
Frenchman Lionel Alexandre sits one shot behind, with two-time Open champion Ernie Els, Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez and American duo Pat Perez and Tom Penrice jnr all one shot further behind.
One of the best rounds of the day, though, was produced by McGinley on his return to the venue where the Irishman led Europe to a Ryder Cup victory in 2014.
McGinley spent all of last week on broadcasting duties for the Golf Channel at The Open at Royal Birkdale while the majority of the other players in this week’s field were getting prepared for the final over-50s’ major of the season.
“Yeah, it was great,” he admitted of his day’s work, having signed for seven birdies, one double bogey and two bogeys. “Obviously made some mistakes, which I'm not happy about. My card is like a Christmas tree with different colours on it. A lot of good golf in there. I played well.”
The 59-year-old outscored defending champion Padraig Harrington by two shots and finished the day three shots ahead of Darren Clarke, the winner here in 2022.
“The golf course is suiting me because I can chase it and there's a bit of run in the fairways, and course management was pretty good,” he added. “And I really enjoyed it. I love coming up to this place. Obviously it's got good memories for me and good vibes.”
McGinley has been joined in this week’s field by three members of his winning Ryder Cup team - Jamie Donaldson, Stephen Gallacher and Henrik Stenson. Damian Moore, who caddied for Gallacher in the Ryder Cup, is on McGinley’s bag.
“Yeah, it is, you go around the hotel and you see the photographs, and you see all the images and the memories,” he replied to being asked if he’d been inspired by being back. “And the team room I was in last night, having a look around that, just for nostalgic reasons. Obviously great memories. It was a great week that turned out wonderfully well.”
Percy, who lost in two play-offs on the Champions Tour last year, carded eight birdies, including four in a row around the turn, to set the pace. “I've never been here before,” he said. “But I found something late yesterday. The last four holes I hit it really nicely, and did it again today. Hopefully I'll keep doing that and I'll be okay.”
Els is among the group of players bidding to do the Open/Senior Open double. “I’d love to join the guys who have won both,” admitted the South African after signing for a six-birdie opening salvo. “That would be special.”
Paul Lawrie, who mixed three birdies with two bogeys, and Alastair Forsyth, helped by three birdies in a row from the 14th, are the leading Scots on one under. After hitting the opening shot, Greig Hutcheon is a shot behind along with David Drysdale, but Colin Montgomerie faces a fight to make the cut following a 75, though two late birdies will give him hope heading into round two.
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