Paul feeling worth-less

May 25 2008 Euan Mclean

WENTWORTH has dealt Paul McGinley more than his share of heartache and on the evidence of yesterday's shocker he'd better brace himself for another sore one.

Disappointment has become all too familiar for the Irishman on a course where he has twice brought himself to the brink of glory only to fall agonisingly short when it comes to the crunch.

It's three years to the week since his first let-down at this BMW PGA Championship when he battled Angel Cabrera tooth and nail, ultimately in vain.

Four months later he was back for more punishment at the World Matchplay when Michael Campbell edged him 2 and 1 in the 36-hole final, leaving McGinley visibly shaken.

Fast forward to today and it looks like history is ready to repeat itself after he set about dismantling every bit of good work he'd put in during the first two days with a nightmare round of 79.

After blinding scores of 65 and 66 that had given McGinley a stranglehold of this tournament he produced a comedy of errors with a seven-over par round that must have made him feel like throttling himself.

Now the initiative is firmly in the hands of new tournament leader Robert Karlsson whose excellent round of 70 in blustery conditions epitomised everything his playing partner McGinley was not.

That sees the Swede going into the final round on 11-under 205 - four clear of nearest challengers Miguel Angel Jimenez and Oliver Wilson.

McGinley, locked on 210 with Daniel Vancsik and Jyoti Randhawa, is left to ponder how he managed to go from a fourshot lead to a deficit of five in the space of 18 calamitous holes.

With horrendous wet weather forecast to roll in this morning he must hope Karlsson struggles to master the elements to have any chance of avoiding a third kick in the teeth on the West Course.

McGinley groaned: "Having come close here before it would really hurt to miss out for a third time but 79 is just not good enough in professional golf no matter how tough the course.

"It's a cruel game sometimes. It can make you so high and then bring you so low. I don't feel like I played horrendously badly today but scored dreadfully because my short game was really poor.

"I had a terrible start with a double bogey, lost momentum from there and everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

"I'm shattered at the moment, this has taken a lot out of me so I have to regroup and go at it again tomorrow but it's a long way back to be honest."

While McGinley was licking his wounds Karlsson will be taking nothing for granted.

He said: "It's a big lead but I saw how quickly it went when Paul started badly. Suddenly it's tough going and it sort of invited me to be more aggressive.

"I tried not to get too much involved in what he was doing because it's easy to get into a matchplay situation and that's the worst thing that can happen for both players."

Karlsson is hot favourite to pick up the £600,000 winner's cheque but the presence of a grizzled old campaigner like Jimenez so high up the board could make for a grandstand finish this evening.

The motivation couldn't be higher with the prospect of shooting into the frame for a place in the Ryder Cup team in September - especially as the Spaniard was disappointed to miss out two years ago at the K Club in Dublin

But it's the kudos of winning the European Tour's flagship tournament that has really got Jimenez's juices flowing and he admits victory today would be the biggest of his career.

He said: "Tomorrow after breakfast I'm going to have my espresso coffee and long fat cigar and enjoy myself before I go out to play."

Top Scot Gary Orr kept himself in the frame for a first-five finish with a solid round of 73 that puts him one behind McGinley.

He said: "I ground it out really well but I was disappointed with an over-run putt on the 17th and missed the one coming back for par.

"Apart from that I felt I did well and anything around par is a good score today.

"The wind was a big problem because it gusts and changes direction so quickly.

"On 14 Miguel and I had similar shots and both hit four-iron yet he hit his over the green and mine was short."

LEADING SCORES

(GB and Ire unless stated, par 72)

205 - R Karlsson (Swe) 70.

209 - O Wilson 73, M A Jimenez (Spa) 72.

210 - D Vancsik (Arg) 72, P McGinley 79, J Randhawa (Ind) 69.

211 - G ORR 73, R Echenique (Arg) 68.

212 - F Aguilar (Chi) 74, P Casey 73, C Schwartzel (Rsa) 73,

S Kjeldsen (Den) 76, A Canizares (Spa) 74, R Green (Aus) 73,

M Kaymer (Ger) 71, M Tunnicliff 77, M Fraser (Aus) 76.

213 - P Hanson (Swe) 70, S Webster 72, C Rodiles (Spa)

70, S Khan 71, O Fisher 69.

Other Scots: 214 -MWarren 75, A Forsyth 72. 215 -P Lawrie 70.