Paul

Lawrie

“It’s always nice to hit the opening shot. Hopefully it will be calm, and you get four hours of decent weather. It’s a nice thing to be asked to do. Looking forward to it,” said Lawrie, who will make his 27th start in the championship. He’s made 14 cuts with a win in 1999 for his only top 10. In 1999 at Carnoustie, Lawrie rallied from 10 strokes back in the final round to beat Jean Van de Velde and Justin Leonard in a playoff after they all finished regulation at 6-over 290. Lawrie posted a 67 in the final round to make the playoff, then birdied the last two holes of the four-hole playoff to win by three shots. Lawrie took 15 strokes over the four holes, while Leonard and Van de Velde had 18. The 53-year-old Lawrie, an eight-time DP World Tour winner, reveals he still gets the first-tee jitters at times and expects them on Thursday as well: “No matter what tournament I’m playing in I’m always a wee bit nervous, but obviously it’ll be a little bit more because it’s The Open and it’s the 150th. Luckily, it’s a nice, big, wide fairway down there.” See the link below for Lawrie’s full transcript.

It might, at first glance, seem a little odd that the Scot is playing this week, but he needs to be in the area. He could actually have played in Madagasgar last week and the Seychelles this, on the Staysure Tour (the European senior circuit). He is definitely playing that circuit’s Tour Championship in Mauritius next week which explains his presence on the island – he plays on an invite. It is now over three years since he made a European Tour top five (Portugal Masters) however and in 11 starts in 2018 and 2019 he has made just three cuts and no top 50.

Lawrie was an early clubhouse leader on Thursday but failed to capitalize on his position today. The positive spin is that he didn’t shoot his way out of the tournament, not to mention that he closed birdie-birdie-birdie to avoid posting a black number.

This is Lawrie’s first appearance in the tournament since 2003. That was the same year Rose made his first of seven appearances. They sat all square through six holes today before the Scot won the seventh and eighth holes with pars. Rose won three holes thereafter but never evened it up as Lawrie claimed two. The duo halved the final three before Rose ran out of golf course. Lawrie advances to face Ryo Ishikawa in Thursday’s second round.

After opening with two halves, the duo exchanged wins for the next five holes after which Lawrie held a 1-up advantage. He wouldn’t relinquish it despite losing a hole after each of the three he won thereafter. That included giving up the par-4 17th to Ishikawa’s par. However, both parred the closing hole, thus ending Ishikawa’s stay in the desert. Lawrie advances to face fellow Scot Martin Laird in Friday’s third round.

Despite discussion on Wednesday, the field is playing the ball down today. Lawrie had nothing going over his first 12 holes. He swallowed a bogey at the par-5 eighth hole and surrounded it with 11 pars. He then eagled the par-5 13th and par-5 15th holes, springing to life. The Scot closed birdie-bogey to become the first to post a number. The threat of rain and storms remains in the forecast for late today, but the weather has been glorious thus far.

“I am not going to play the Nordea Masters in Sweden the week before the U.S. Open either because there is a long run of events after that and if I am to miss an event on the schedule then it is the US Open,” the Scot said. “My record in the U.S. Open is not good and I understand that it is a major but I feel I have more chance of playing well at the BMW International Open the week after the U.S. Open. ... I know people are going to be surprised when they learn this but I stand more chance of earning Ryder Cup points at the BMW in Cologne than in the U.S. Open. ... It’s a decision I had been thinking about for a long time but if you know you can’t compete in a particular tournament then why go? It’s a big call and a lot of people are going to say I should be playing but you have to do what you feel is best. My goal right now is to make the Ryder Cup team so I have to set in place a schedule where I feel I can earn the most Ryder Cup points.”

After strong winds wiped out play on Friday, Lawrie emerged atop the leaderboard after 36 holes were in the books on Saturday. His closing bogey-free, 7-under-par 33-32=65 shared low round of the day. He concluded 54 holes in 15-under 201. Jason Day and Peter Hanson shared runner-up honors at 11-under 205. Lawrie played a nearly flawless final round, hitting 16 greens in regulation and taking just 27 putts. He chipped in for his final birdie at the 17th hole. This is his seventh career victory on the European Tour. He should climb inside the top 50 of the world ranking once the results of the Waste Management Phoenix Open are plugged in. The Scot would then become exempt into the WGC-Match Play when that deadline for entry falls next week. Today’s victory automatically qualifies him into the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August. He’s setting up to be a decent complement in fantasy formats as a non-member in the big events.

The 1999 champion of this tournament has enjoyed a return to relevance and form this season. Among his six top 10s was a win in Qatar and a T2 at the BMW PGA Championship. At Royal Lytham & St. Annes today, he split 10 (of 14) fairways and hit just 11 greens, but he limited the damage to one bogey while picking up three birdies on each side.

The native Scot slept on a one-stroke margin entering today’s finale, and then closed with a 4-under-par 34-34=68 to secure the win at 16-under 272. Brett Rumford earned runner-up honors at 12-under 276. Lawrie was the only golfer in the field to card four rounds in the 60s. It’s his second title of the season and eighth career on the European Tour, three of which have occurred in his homeland. Remember, he elected not to compete in the U.S. Open in order to focus on a berth in the Ryder Cup. He automatically qualified for the biennial competition at the conclusion of today’s event.