McGinley Juggling Growing Business While Bravely Dealing With The Pain Of Family Sadness.

He will forever be revered as one of Ireland’s favourite sons – Paul McGinley captain of the victorious 2014 European Ryder Cup team.

McGinley’s men out-played Tom Watson’s visiting Americans to the tune of 16 1/2 to 11 1/5 so much so you can probably still hear faint sounds of cheering among the hills and valleys in the mountains surrounding stately Gleneagles.

However one can never wrest on their laurels and McGinley moved on from those three wonderful days in the Home of Golf nation to  resume his own golf career and turning 50 two years later in December 2016 that made him eligible for the Legends Tour.

Though how many Legends Tour tournaments do you think McGinley has contested since the start of 2017?

The answer is just 4 – one in 2017, two in 2018, none in 2019 and only one in 2020.  He’s teed-up in not one official OWGR ranked tournament since.

Paul McGinley – the centre of joyful celebrations at the 2014 Ryder Cup. Image – Sports Photo Agency

Of course, there’s been what has been his brilliant committment working for SKY Golf and now more with NBC Golf but there’s the enormous pain of dealing with family issues.

McGinley was a recent guest on an Indo Sport Podcast and in a sometimes emotional conversation with host Joe Molloy he revealed what is keeping him way from being inside the ropes.

The much-loved Irishman speaks emotionally of his beloved father, Michael who is battling dementia and how the McGinley family is coping with the challenge and also the sadness around a year after losing his mother.

The then appointed Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley and his father Michael sitting in the stands at a home Donegal game – Photo June 2013 by SportsFile

Those who have known McGinley for some time we surely have seen Michael at DP World Tour events proudly supporting his son.

With the challenges both in McGinley’s private and also business life he says is has also drastically reduced any tournament golf he would have been contesting.  Indeed, his last OWGR event was a lone DPWT tournament at the 2020 Celtic Classic while it was a decade ago exactly this Saturday (November 2nd) when he finished mid-field in the 2014 BMW Masters and in what was his final event of the year in his last full DPWT season of 19 tournaments.

He was then ranked No. 552 in the world while currently McGinley does not possess a ranking.

The only time you now see McGinley on a golf course is in the TV advertisement for Staysure, a travel company that features Colin Montgomerie, Woosie and McGinley while the company is also title sponsor for the Staysure Seniors PGA Championship.

 

“I was looking forward to playing a bit of seniors golf but since I turned 50 it seems to have been one problem after another that I am having to deal with and that seems to have more priority over my career post 50”, he said on the Indo Sport Podcast.

“I still love golf. I still love to play. I can practice all day long and I can play every day of the week if you gave me the chance but I have other priorities that I have to deal with and put first.  That is why I am not playing much on tour.

“It’s not about finding the weeks to go and play on tour but it’s the weeks in between when I need to prepare, and have the clarity of mind so when I go out to play I am honest.

“And what I have learned more than anything on my career is the importance of preparation no matter what it is”.

No surprise also that McGinley is also involved in the business of golf not just in front of TV cameras but he’s on the advisory board for the 2025 Ryder Cup while he’s just come off six-years on the European Tour corporate board while he is involved with a of number of companies where he has a small investment.

Just recently we saw the opening of the Paul McGinley Golf Academy at the Dunfanaghy Golf Club in Donegal and home town of his parents while he’s also been commissioned to help rework three golf course in the region.

“My golf design has been going along quietly for the past 15-years, and we’ve probably carried out over Euro 150m of work and not many people would know about that”, he revealed also on Indo Sport.

“So, there’s been a lot of learning curves with that but I have a great partner in Joe Bedford with my dad also a partner.  We seem to do things right as we don’t get called back in by the members to fix anything, so that is something I want to spend more time doing more of in the future.

“I have been lucky to play some of the great golf courses in the world and that’s my template ….. I have strong belief that golf is damn difficult as it is even if you played it in a field where there is no bunkers … so I am a great believer in simplifying golf courses and making them really desirable to play, and appetising to play and you want to be encouraged to play the shot rather than being intimidate in hitting a difficult shot that is going to be tough to pull off.

“Also, there should not be too much movement on the greens and you can stand in bunkers where you can see all of the green but challenging at the same time. A golf course than can be tweaked-up, if needed.

“In general, I believe golf courses are designed to difficult and it’s my role to simplify them, a bit”.

McGinely identified his favourite golf course in his homeland to play as Royal Portrush while “I put Baltray up there alongside Portrush” and why those two Irish gems: “Because they are golf courses that give you a chance to shoot a score like a 68 or a 69 or a 66 on good day.  And if I don’t achieve I leave wanting to come back because in playing the golf course has not burst my balls or walking off being deflated saying ‘Oh boy! That was difficult in shooting 76 even playing half decent”.

There was one question to McGinley and with the answer coming as no real surprise given also he collected a 41st pro career title last Sunday.

The question … Who would you say is the most competitive player in the world.  Answer:  “Padraig (Harrington) easily is. He’s ferociously competitive but with a smile on his face”.

Again thank you to Indo Sport Podcast

 



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