Pragmatism has always been one of Paul McGinley's strongest traits; but, then, so too has been his competitiveness.

So, even though he had stood toe-to-toe with two-time major champion Mark O'Meara for four days, and coped with the pressures of contending again, the pain of losing out by a single shot in the Dubai Desert Classic still cut into his very being.

"We're in this game to win, and the difference between winning and coming second is huge," the Dubliner remarked candidly.

It was not bitterness. Far from it, in fact, as McGinley heaped so much syrupy praise on O'Meara, his playing partner for all four rounds, was in danger of being placed on the sweets trolley in the elaborate clubhouse at the Emirates club. Rather, it was an insight into the mind of the professional athlete, where success is what competing is all about.

Yet, the evidence from this oil-rich emirate is that McGinley, like O'Meara, has been reborn. Prior to the tournament, others hogged the limelight. Tiger Woods, the world number one, who had brought his pal O'Meara along for a visit to a naval carrier in the Gulf on the eve of the tournament, was the American considered most likely. After all, O'Meara's downward spiral in the world rankings had seen him languish at 201st before he greeted McGinley, ranked 159th in the world, on the first tee on Thursday and started his odyssey of rediscovery.

By the time the two hugged each other on the 72nd hole, O'Meara had taken 271 strokes, the final one a putt of 18 inches which until recently would have caused him all manner of problems. But then, that was before he adopted a claw-like putting grip called "The Saw" which has cured him of the dreaded yips. It was a stroke less than McGinley accumulated and the next nearest challengers - Ernie Els and David Howell - were a further three back.

Throughout yesterday's final round, O'Meara never faltered. Not once. "He played awesome," conceded McGinley. "To be as tough as he was for the last two days, to be so tough having not been in a really tight competitive situation recently, you have to hand it to him. I can see why he's been so successful throughout his career."

McGinley's runner-up placing - his best finish since taking second place behind Retief Goosen in the Lancome Trophy last September - earned him €178,619 and moved him to 11th on the European Tour Order of Merit. But there was no masking his disappointment.

"I gave it my best shot and I just came up a fraction short," said McGinley, who had started the final round on the same mark as O'Meara. Yesterday, though, McGinley finished with a 70 to O'Meara's 69.

For much of the front nine, the two had traded shot for shot and glances to the leaderboards dotted around the course showed them that while players like Howell and Els, who shot 65, were making moves, in truth, destiny was in their own hands.

McGinley, though, slipped behind on the ninth, where he suffered his first bogey. Conscious of the water lurking on the left, and fearing the wind was too strong, he opted to use a three-wood off the tee rather than driver. But he pushed it into the right rough and then, attempting to draw his approach in off the hospitality tents, tugged the shot enough to bring the lake into play. If it had managed to travel another couple of yards further, he'd have avoided the watery grave. But the ball took one bounce and plopped into the water.

It meant O'Meara - who had put together a hat-trick of birdies from the third - had again nudged ahead. Then, on the 16th, McGinley's drive finished in the waste land down the left and directly behind a palm tree.

He had no option but to play out onto the fairway and, then, after pitching in to 15 feet, could only watch as the par putt caressed the hole but refused to drop. It put him two shots behind with two to play, and the writing was pretty much on the wall.

After both players parred the 17th, McGinley faced his moment of truth on the 18th, a par five of 547 yards with an expanse of water guarding the green.

In this situations, a player's bravery is examined and McGinley was up to the task, hitting his three-wood approach of 214 yards onto the green - but he had a 50-foot putt for the eagle that was required to possibly force a play-off and when it rolled up close to the hole but didn't drop, it meant O'Meara had two putts from eight feet to take the title.

The win was O'Meara's first in strokeplay competition since he won the British Open in 1998, and there were times since when he despaired if he would ever be competitive again.

"There were times over the past three or four years that were just so frustrating," he said, "and I felt like toward the end of last year I reached a low, a time when I said 'it's time to turn this around and really get a passion for playing again'."

This win was his 28th worldwide as a professional. And one of the first to congratulate him was Woods, who gave his friend a bearhug as he walked off the 18th green. "Mark," said Woods, "I am so happy, I'm as happy as you are right now." To which O'Meara later remarked, "Tiger's got a big heart . . . it's a side of Tiger Woods you don't see but it is a side of Tiger Woods that I know."

Overall, it was a good tournament for the Irish players. Apart from McGinley going head-to-head effectively over the weekend with O'Meara - "I feel like I've been in a boxing bout, it's been a mentally tough week," he said - Peter Lawrie finished with a 68 for 11-under-par 277 to claim tied-ninth and win €32,580.

Damien McGrane finished with a 69 for 279 (tied-17th, winning €20,791) while Padraig Harrington - "I putted badly all week," he remarked - closed with a 70 for 281 (tied-24th). Gary Murphy's 72 for 286 left him in tied-45th.

(Irel and Eng unless stated, par 72):

271 - Mark O'Meara (USA) 70 64 68 69.

272 - Paul McGinley 68 65 69 70.

275 - David Howell 67 71 70 67, Ernie Els (Rsa) 70 68 72 65.

276 - Marcel Siem (Den) 70 70 70 66, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 67 73 67, Brian Davis 70 66 69 71, Tiger Woods (USA) 70 69 69 68.

277 - Peter Lawrie 69 69 71 68, Greg Owen 71 65 72 69, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 70 70 68 69.

278 - Paul Casey 69 68 70 71, Bradley Dredge (Wal) 64 71 72 71, Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 70 69 71 68, Lee Westwood 70 71 68 69, Andrew Marshall 72 71 67 68.

279 - Michael Campbell (Nzl) 74 69 70 66, Gary Orr (Sco) 69 75 68 67, Damien McGrane 72 70 68 69.

280 - Simon Dyson 68 69 70 73, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 70 73 70 67, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 68 72 73 67, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 73 68 68 71.

281 - Marcus Fraser (Aus) 69 70 71 71, Steve Webster 70 73 68 70, Padraig Harrington 69 72 70 70.

282 - Richard Green (Aus) 68 71 72 71, Brett Rumford (Aus) 74 69 70 69, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 74 69 72 67.

283 - Nick Faldo 73 69 73 68, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 69 71 70 73, Phillip Price (Wal) 71 72 71 69, Paul Broadhurst 70 74 73 66.

284 - Ian Poulter 73 70 70 71, Stephen Gallacher (Sco) 72 71 73 68, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 70 74 70 70, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn) 71 70 72 71, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 72 71 69, Martin Maritz (Rsa) 70 72 71 71, Simon Khan 69 71 74 70.

285 - Michael Jonzon (Swe) 74 70 73 68, Anders Hansen (Den) 72 70 70 73, Raymond Russell (Sco) 70 73 71 71, Mark Foster 74 70 70 71.

286 - Kenneth Ferrie 70 70 74 72, James Kingston (Rsa) 73 70 72 71, Gary Murphy 71 67 76 72, Martin Lemesurier 70 73 70 73, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 70 71 73 72, Gregory Havret (Fra) 70 71 70 75, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 72 71 71 72.

287 - Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 72 70 74 71, John Bickerton 71 71 71 74, Peter Hanson (Swe) 71 73 72 71, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 69 73 74 71.

288 - Christian Cevaer (Fra) 70 73 72 73, Soren Hansen (Den) 69 75 70 74, Stuart Little 74 69 72 73, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 70 75 72.

289 - Mark Roe 71 72 75 71, Peter Baker 69 73 76 71, Gary Evans 71 73 73 72, Miles Tunnicliff 71 73 76 69.

290 - Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 72 71 70 77, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 73 70 73 74, Thavorn Wiratchant (Tha) 74 70 74 72.

291 - Alastair Forsyth (Sco) 70 73 76 72.

292 -Andrew Coltart (Sco) 72 72 73 75, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 71 72 72 77.

295 - Ben Banks 73 70 79 73.

Ret - Carlos Rodiles (Spn).