Tour Scene NEC World Championship: If victory ultimately evaded Paul McGinley in the world golf championship NEC Invitational at Akron on Sunday, where he finished tied-third behind Tiger Woods, the Dubliner had some solace to remove any lingering bitter taste.

One consequence of his brave effort was that he jumped to sixth in the PGA European Tour money list, which puts him in pole position to secure one of the final places in the HSBC World Matchplay at Wentworth next month, while he has also leapfrogged to 35th in the latest official world rankings, something that could have greater long-term significance.

The World Matchplay has the biggest first prize in golf - £1 million (€1,474,627) - and is confined to an elite field of 16, based primarily around performances in the season's four majors. However, another route into the field is via the European Tour Order of Merit, with the top two players not already exempt after this week's BMW International in Munich also securing a spot. At present, McGinley heads that particular qualifying criterion.

McGinley is one of five Irishmen competing in the BMW - along with Padraig Harrington, Gary Murphy, Peter Lawrie and Damien McGrane - and his fourth top-five finish of the season was perhaps the most noteworthy in that it was achieved in a world-class event in the United States.

"This is the first time I've competed at the world level really to a large extent," remarked the Ryder Cup player. "I had a great week in the BMW Championship this year in Europe (where he finished second to Angel Cabrera at Wentworth), but on the world stage this is the first time I really contended, like being in the heat of winning.

"It's still a learning process for me. You know, I might be old in terms of years, 38, but in terms of experience I'm pretty young. This was my first time to be in the heat of battle like this, (and) this is the first one that was achievable."

Having endured a somewhat barren summer, McGinley has enjoyed in the past few weeks a revival of the springtime form that saw him secure three top-five finishes, including two runner-up positions when he lost to Paul Casey in a play-off for the China Classic and then finished second to Cabrera in the BMW Championship at Wentworth, the tour's flagship tournament. All along, McGinley has testified he has been playing better than his results have indicated.

Now, following on from his tied-23rd placing in the US PGA at Baltusrol, McGinley raised the bar even higher at Firestone. Not alone is he within touching distance of a place in the field for the World Matchplay, but he has also moved up to a career-equalling best of 35th in the world rankings, which puts him in a position of strength to secure a return invitation to the US Masters in Augusta next April.

The top-50 ranked players at the end of the year traditionally receive invites. This year, McGinley and Colin Montgomerie were the only two members of the winning European Ryder Cup team not to make it to the Masters. His only appearance there came in 2002.

McGinley showed great fortitude to recover from a three-putt double-bogey from three-feet on the 12th hole of Sunday's final round in Akron. "You know, it was a day for battling, and I really battled. I started out great, just striped it the first five or six holes, then missed a few fairways by a yard. It seems every time you miss by a yard, you're stone dead. Every time I was, it was a chip out. But I managed to get pars," said McGinley. "But then I get all the way on 12, that three putt from three feet.

"When you're trying to win a tournament, you can't afford to do things like that. I dug deep and hung on really well and had a strong finish. I just left myself too much to do. The three putt put me out of the ballgame to a large extent."

Nevertheless, McGinley, who underwent knee surgery at the tail-end of 2004 and had a late start to the season, is now on course to have his best-ever finish in the European Tour Order of Merit. His best performance came in the 2001 season, when he finished eighth.

Critically, the World Matchplay is now an official counting event on the European Tour and, if, as appears increasingly likely, he does secure a place in that field, it could have massive implications for him.

This week, though, McGinley moves on to the BMW International in Munich, where he will be joined by Harrington, who was pleased to show some hints of a return to form at Firestone despite never getting into serious contention.

"At some stage during the tournament, I did just about all the things right," claimed Harrington, who has slipped out of the world's top 10, to 11th place. "I didn't quite get it together all the time. I didn't drive well the first three rounds, but did in the final round; and I putted well the first three days, but it let me down in the final round."

At least Harrington had the benefit of playing four full rounds for the first time in a month, which should stand to him on a course where he has traditionally performed well. Certainly, there is no indication of any lack of confidence from Harrington.

He explained: "It's not a confidence thing. You often see that you go out there and you play your hardest and play your toughest and nothing is happening. But, at times, it's not going and beating balls that could be the difference, it could be just waiting, being patient for it to come round. In showing confidence in yourself. It's not confidence in your game, it's just confidence that if you do your thing it will be good enough."

Irish positions on PGA European Tour Order of Merit: 6th, P McGinley €1,091,083; 17th, D Clarke €810,929; 44th, G McDowell €370,391; 45th, P Lawrie €369,605; 47th, P Harrington €355,945; 52nd, D McGrane €330,701; 72nd, G Murphy €263,317; 184th, D Higgins €44,017; 193rd, S Browne €36,254; 203rd, C Moriarty €30,100; 219th, M Hoey €22,252; 275th, P Walton €7,453.

(US unless stated)

274 - T Woods 66 70 67 71.

275 - C DiMarco 67 70 70 68.

276 - V Singh (Fij) 66 71 72 67, R Palmer 72 68 67 69, P McGinley (Ire) 71 66 67 72.

277 - L Donald (Brit) 69 67 74 67, D Howell (Brit) 70 68 70 69, K Perry 70 69 64 74.

278 - C Montgomerie (Brit) 70 72 68 68, Z Johnson 70 70 69 69, D Toms 71 67 69 71, J M Olazabal (Spa) 72 68 66 72.

279 - R Pampling (Aus) 71 70 71 67, H Stenson (Swe) 66 71 72 70, D Love III 67 73 69 70, S Appleby (Aus) 68 70 67 74, S Garcia (Spa) 68 70 67 74.

280 - T Bjorn (Den) 70 67 72 71.

281 - T Immelman (SA) 73 71 71 66, K Ferrie (Brit) 71 70 73 67, J Haas 76 69 67 69, P Casey (Brit) 75 68 67 71, J Leonard 72 66 71 72.

282 - J Furyk 72 73 68 69, P Harrington (Ire) 75 68 69 70 L Westwood (Brit) 73 72 63 74.

283 - J Daly 71 69 69 74.

284 - D Clarke (N Ire) 76 68 72 68, F Couples 71 74 70 69, B Bryant 74 73 67 70, N O'Hern (Aus) 68 73 72 71, R Sabbatini (SA) 73 69 67 75.

285 - N Fasth (Swe) 72 72 70 71, C Campbell 72 72 69 72, I Poulter (Brit) 73 69 69 74.

286 - W Austin 73 68 77 68, P Lonard (Aus) 74 71 68 73, A Scott (Aus) 70 76 67 73, S Ames (Can) 74 71 68 73, M Weir (Can) 71 69 70 76.

287 - T Lehman 73 71 75 68, G Ogilvy (Aus) 74 74 70 69, S Cink 72 72 73 70, A Cabrera (Arg) 75 74 67 71, F Funk 74 71 69 73.

288 - S Maruyama (Jap) 75 70 71 72, B Geiberger 70 76 69 73, T Levet (Fra) 72 71 72 73

289 - S Elkington (Aus) 72 76 75 66, M Cayeux (Zim) 71 75 71 72.