GLOOMIEST face in sport?

Not Sir Alex Ferguson, despite the loss of totemic leader Roy Keane with a broken foot, nor for the fact that Fergie's responsibilities - according to the national press - now include an on-going, in-depth, week-in, week-out psychological grilling of Wayne Rooney in the wake of the wonderkid's disciplinary indiscretions.

Not Ricky Ponting, the cricket captain who has been peppered with homeland howitzers over his leadership during England's Ashes conquest since his return to Australia.

Not even another Oz, Ian Millward, the esteemed rugby league coach whose Wigan Warriors have finished out of the end of season play-off shake-up for the first time since Super League got up and running in all its Sky-powered glory.

No, the visage that best typified sporting disenchantment belonged to golfer Paul McGinley. He was a forlorn picture of what might have been after his 2 and 1 defeat by New Zealand's Michael Campbell in the final of the HSBC World Match Play championship at Wentworth.

Anyone not wanting a six-iron heading their way should not mention Wentworth too readily to McGinley, who must detest the Surrey course. It was there that he finished second to Angel Cabrera in the BMW Championship earlier this season when he dropped shots on two of the last three holes.

Back second time around, McGinley's misery was compounded in the run-in as he careered to defeat by losing the 15th and 16th holes of the 36-hole battle. Campbell, the US Open winner, thereby bagged the bumper cheque for £1million - golf's biggest prize.

For his troubles, McGinley trousered £400,000 - no mean amount you might add. But being second was not cushioned by that sizeable cheque, even if it pushed his 2005 earnings past £1million.

The amiable Irishman, who has been a major figure in the Great Britain and European Ryder Cup team, has now gone four years since winning a solo title. And his Wentworth woe was the fourth time this year he had gone agonisingly close. There were near misses in China, that BMW Championship, and in last month's NEC world championship where he was third behind Tiger Woods and Chris DiMarco.

After eight high-pressure rounds in four days climaxed by Campbell's crushing victory, McGinley sighed: "It hurts more than you could imagine."

If McGinley needs lifting, he could do worse than to gaze at the man who bested him at Wentworth. Eight years ago Kiwi Campbell contemplated storing away the clubs forever after a run of 14 tournaments in which he missed the halfway cut a dozen times.

Now he is not only a major winner after his US Open victory, he stands atop the European Order of Merit table with earnings this year of £1,616,000.

There could be even a bigger loser in golf than the ill-starred McGinley. That's the backers of the World Match Play championship itself.

This year's tournament, which carries points towards the Ryder Cup teams, was denuded of the world's top four players. Defending champion and six-time winner Ernie Els was injured, but the others - Woods, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson - all opted not to take part.

Since Els' South African compatriot Gary Player won the first event in 1964 it has been one of the most prestigious events in golf's calendar. But that reputation will drain and wane if the world's best continue to snub it. Like McGinley, the event is in need of succour.

Updated: 08:28 Tuesday, September 20, 2005