GOLF: On a gloriously sunny day on the Wentworth estate yesterday, the Irish hold on this old PGA Championship was tightened, at least until Peter Hedblom's late-evening gate-crashing of the shindig.
Yet, it wasn't either of the overnight leaders, Peter Lawrie or Graeme McDowell, who contributed to the proposed Irish takeover. Instead, it was two friends who have shared in the joys of Walker Cup, World Cup and Ryder Cup wins who sought to put their respective grips on the tournament.
McGinley, the host, sizzled in the pressure-pot conditions. The 38-year-old Dubliner, without a title since he won the weather-shortened Wales Open of 2001 in a play-off, shot a second-round 64 for eight-under-par 136, including missing a birdie putt on the 18th that would have given him a share of the course record.
Harrington, in the match behind, and able to keep one eye on McGinley's progress, also put himself into the mix with a 68 for 138, despite suffering a minor recurrence of his neck injury prior to his round.
"I tell myself every time that if I do my neck in again, I'm pulling out of the tournament. But I don't do it, I'd probably have to lose a limb not to go out," he confessed.
Nevertheless, Sweden's Hedblom, whose only tour win came in the Moroccan Open of 1996, assumed the mantle of the 36-hole lead. Ranked 240th in the world, Hedblom contrived to produce a second-round 65 for 11-under-par 133, which gave him a three-shot lead over McGinley.
Hedblom's round included a string of five successive birdies from the eighth hole on the increasingly firm and crusty greens. "This is only the second time in my life that I'm leading a tour event, and the last time I won," remarked Hedblom.
All in all, the day's shenanigans resulted in as impressive an Irish challenge for a big tournament as has been seen in many a long day. No fewer than seven of them - McGinley (-8), Harrington (-6), Darren Clarke (-4), Damien McGrane (-4), Gary Murphy (-2), Peter Lawrie (-2) and Graeme McDowell (-1) - survived the cut, which fell on level par.
If there was a downside, it was that Lawrie and McDowell moved in the wrong direction: Lawrie had a poor day with the putter, hitting or shaving the cup half a dozen times, while McDowell lost his rhythm when put on the clock on the back nine.
Clarke's round of 69 for 140 didn't inspire too much confidence. "I hit it terrible, I'm just not playing very good. I can't control my ball flight at all and I'm working on trying to sort it out," he said.
Still, casting an eye across to the scoreboard, he was pleased to see McGinley's name with the leader's star beside it. "He's been playing well for a while, he's had a good score coming."
On Wednesday evening, the McGinleys, Alison and Paul, invited the Harringtons, Caroline and Padraig and baby Patrick, around for dinner. As you'd expect, the McGinleys were the perfect hosts. Alison cooked a dinner of lemon chicken coated in sesame seeds; Paul did the washing up, and also chided Padraig for feeding the family dog, Phoebe (as in the sit-com Friends), from the dinner plate.
Out on the course yesterday it was a good deal more serious; but not half as serious as it would be if the two were to find themselves head-to-head coming down the stretch in the final round.
"You're not going to be competing against another player until right at the end of the tournament, and, you know, in that case I'll be trying to beat Paul just as much as I'd be trying to beat anybody," said Harrington.
Which is what happened in the Volvo Masters of 2001 when he holed a birdie putt on the last green to snatch the title from McGinley's grasp.
If you were to ask McGinley what has most disappointed him in his professional career, it's his failure to win as often as he'd like.
"I think I've had a great career. I've had two Ryder Cup experiences in extreme pressure, but my win ratio is not good enough. I'm aware of that," he conceded.
Would he be content with his career if he didn't win a big title?
"No. No," he replied.
As far as titles on the European Tour go, and barring the British Open, this is as big as it gets.
"Paul's a much better player than his wins on tour suggest," said Harrington of his pal. "He should win more often, and maybe moving up to the bigger tournaments will actually help him win more often."
Yesterday was one of those days for McGinley that golfers would love to bank and repeat at their whim. He hit 16 greens in regulation, and each of the 27 putts he took propelled him toward the upper reaches of the leaderboard.
Having started out in 56th position, McGinley leapfrogged to the dizzy heights of leader until Hedblom's round late in the evening enabled him to take the midway lead.
McGinley's 64 didn't feature a single blemish, containing as it did six birdies and an eagle. The eagle came on the 12th where he hit "a massive drive" on the 509-yard par five and followed up with a six-iron approach to 12 feet.
He continued the momentum by birdieing the 14th, from five feet; the 16th, from 20 feet; and the 17th, tapping in after his 40-footer for eagle just missed.
This is a big weekend for McGinley, in more ways than one. The first objective, of course, is to chase the title; the second is to secure a place in the US Open.
As things stand, he is 68th in the world rankings and he needs to break into the top 50 after Wentworth to earn a place in the field for next month's major at Pinehurst No 2.
On Thursday, after his first round, McGinley was "very disappointed" with his game. What a difference a day can make. Yesterday, he could do no wrong.
"I think in professional sports, not just in golf, a lot of it is momentum. You look at Liverpool the other night. When they got that first goal, you could feel another one coming on . . . momentum is huge in golf."
He'll be hoping that the momentum is with him more than others as the real business is sorted out over the weekend.
Leaderboard
133 (11 under)
P Hedblom (Swe) 68 65
136 (8 under)
P McGinley (Ire) 72 64
137 (7 under)
N O'Hern (Aus) 68 69
138 (6 under)
P Hanson (Swe) 69 69
P Harrington (Ire) 70 68
139 (5 under)
M Campbell (NZ) 71 68
B Curtis (US) 68 71
T Jaidee (Tha) 72 67
P Lonard (Aus) 69 70
L Slattery (Eng) 70 69
140 (4 under)
P Broadhurst (Eng) 70 70
A Cabrera (Arg) 70 70
D Clarke (NIre) 71 69
R Coles (Eng) 69 71
R-J Derksen (Nld) 71 69
M Fraser (Aus) 68 72
R Goosen (Rsa) 70 70
J-F Lima (Por) 67 73
J Lomas (Eng) 72 68
D McGrane (Ire) 69 71
M Olander (Swe) 68 72
I Poulter (Eng) 71 69
