Paul McGinley finds 'good vibes' back at Gleneagles

Tim Schmitt, GolfweekThu, July 23, 2026 at 8:03 PM UTC

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One of Paul McGinley's finest hours in the game of golf came at Gleneagles, when the four-time European Tour winner led a veteran group of mostly thirty-somethings to a sound thumping of the Americans in the 40th playing of the Ryder Cup. The win marked the third straight victory for the European side and the eighth win in 10 tries.

McGinley used data prep like no other previous Ryder Cup captain, yet maintained the heartfelt camaraderie that helped make the side a power. He even drew on world-famous soccer managers in the process.

"Remember, you've got teammates, and like we've said all week, the mantra all week, wave after wave of attack,” McGinley said of what he told his team Saturday night. “(If) we don't hit with the first wave, hit with the second; if we don't hit with the second, hit with the third. We're coming. … We're relentless, just like the way Man United used to play," he said, drawing inspiration from the English soccer club, whose legendary former manager Alex Ferguson had been enlisted to counsel the Europeans.

Although it's been a dozen years since that victory, McGinley showed the same comfort around the Scottish course on Thursday, posting an impressive 2 under during the first round of play at the ISPS Handa Senior Open.

"It was great. Obviously made some mistakes which I'm not happy about. My Christmas card [scorecard] is like a Christmas tree with different colors on it. A lot of good golf in there. I played well," he said. "The golf course is suiting me because I can chase it and there's a bit of run in the fairways, and course management was pretty good. And I really enjoyed it.

"I love coming up to this place. Obviously it's got good memories for me and good vibes."

McGinley sits five shots behind leader Cameron Percy, who opened play with a 63 to hold the first-round lead over Frenchman Lionel Alexandre (6 under). A strong quartet of Ernie Els, Tom Pernice, Jr., Pat Perez and Miguel Angel Jiménez all sit two shots off the lead at 5 under.

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And while McGinley is realistic about the power he brings at the age of 59, he feels he can still hang with the field.

"My speed is down. I don't have a lot of speed. I'm lucky the ground is really firm at the moment so I can chase it out there a bit. I don't have a lot of carry. So holes like 12 and 14, where even like a 245 carry, that's a lot for me, even with downwind. At 12, I got half of that, hit the bank and hit the bunker. Tough hole when you can't carry it 245 even downwind," he said. "My speed is down. But everything else is OK. My short game was tidy today. I thought I putted well. My speed was really good. It's not easy to get the speed because there's a bit of grain on the greens.

"So I did well at choosing speeds, and 18 was a great example. I can't believe I got it that close. I was hoping to get it within 10 feet."

And while he's hoping to be near the top of the leaderboard at the week's end, McGinley is soaking up the nostalgia at a place where he cemented his legacy.

"You go around the hotel and you see the photographs, and you see all the images and the memories. And the team room I was in last night, having a look around that, just for nostalgic reasons," he said. "Obviously great memories. It was a great week that turned out wonderfully well."

Tim Schmitt is the managing editor of Golfweek.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Senior Open: Paul McGinley reflects on Ryder Cup win at Gleneagles

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