PAUL QUIT BID
PAUL LAWRIE EXCLUSIVE
Open legend Paul Lawrie came close to abandoning his golf career.
The Lifetime Achievement award winner at last week’s Sunday Mail sportscotland Scottish Sports Awards said: “I was struggling.”
Through a salty film of tears Paul Lawrie looked back on a glorious career while warm words of praise from golf’s greatest legend filled the room. And it filled his heart with pride. Thirty one years ago the 17-year-old kid from Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, could never have imagined such a scene when he turned professional playing off a handicap of four. That one day he’d be standing on a stage in front of 600 people in a Glasgow hotel, looking awe-struck at the massive screens above him as the great – no, make that the greatest – Jack Nicklaus told him exactly why he should be darned proud of himself. It would have been special enough had the video tributes stopped at Sir Alex Ferguson, the most iconic manager in the history of his beloved Aberdeen Football Club. But Nicklaus? The man who within a fortnight of Lawrie turning pro was knocking off his 18th and last Major title at the 1986 Masters, one of the best-loved moments in golf history? If you can judge a man by the company he keeps then those messages of goodwill, as Lawrie accepted a Lifetime Achievement gong – sponsored by The Open – at the Sunday Mail sportscotland Scottish Sports Awards, speaks volumes about his standing among the pantheon of sporting heroes. Yet it could have been so different were it not for one sliding doors moment that thankfully didn’t slam shut in front of his face. It was in 1995 when Lawrie and his wife Marian had just become parents for the first time – but their joy in the home was not matched by happiness on the course that season. Struggling in his fourth season on the European Tour and well down the order of merit with a handful of events remaining, reality began to loom large. If he lost his card he’d need to consider packing it all in and getting “a real job.” Despite being luckier than most young pros to have the backing of fantastic sponsors from his home city, the financial pressures of feeding and sheltering a young family would likely have forced him to confront some tough decisions. But just as the going got tough, Lawrie got going and produced a typically determined response that salvaged the situation. From there on the rest is a history celebrated in lavish style on Thursday night in Glasgow’s Double Tree by Hilton Hotel. Lawrie said: “We’d just had Craig, our first born, and I was struggling with my game. “I was way down the order of merit but we’d moved to a nice house and things were tight. “I did think if I lost my card, what would I do? Marian and I spoke about whether I would pack it in and sell the house. “It was a worrying time. “But then I had two top 10s in my last three events to finish something like 107th out of the 115 places that automatically keep their card. It was a rescue job.
“I knuckled down the winter after that scare. I came out and won my first Tour event the following March 1996 then I was off and running.
“I know how lucky I am to be doing the job I have and earning a good living but you appreciate it more when you’ve come through a spell like that.
“When you’re thinking ‘What I’ve always wanted to do was nearly taken away’.
“To then win The Open and play two Ryder Cups, it makes you thankful and think ‘Man, I nearly never had a chance to do all that’.”
But what would he have done? Gone back to where it all began as an assistant pro at Banchory Golf Club, tidying the shop and selling Mars bars to members? Probably.
And despite the glamour and globe-trotting adventures he’s enjoyed on tour, Lawrie insists that humble existence would have suited him just fine.
The harsh truth is that he never expected anything more.
He said: “I could have gone back to being a PGA pro. I did my PGA training because I couldn’t do anything else, at the time I wasn’t good enough to play.
“So I had that qualification behind me. I never thought I’d be on tour, I never thought I’d be good enough, so it was a bonus.
“If it was taken away I’m not sure it would have been the disaster you might think. I would have happily been a PGA pro for the rest of my life.”
But fate had plotted a bigger path for Lawrie, leading him to the crowning glory of The Open Championship triumph at Carnoustie in 1999, seven other European Tour titles and two Ryder Cups. The prospect of adding further success beckons when his 50th birthday, in just over a year’s time, opens the door to the seniors tour.
But were it to stop now he already has a CV to be proud of, not to mention the priceless work of his junior golf foundation that has given more than 25,000 kids in north-east Scotland a chance to take up the sport.
That earned special praise from Nicklaus in his message but on a night when hundreds honoured him, Lawrie humbly sought to share the plaudits with the four pillars on which his illustrious career was built. He said: “Within the space of a year I met four people who have been the biggest influence on me.
“The first is Marian, obviously. Another is Stewart Spence.
“He’s the businessman who by chance got in my dad’s taxi in Aberdeen and, after hearing him talk about his son the golfer, became a sponsor and tireless supporter for the rest of my career.
“Then there’s a guy called Colin Fraser, a fish merchant, who was my first sponsor and still one of my best mates.
“It was Colin who nicknamed me Chippy. I would regularly hit only five or six greens in 18 holes but still shoot one-under because my short game was mustard.
“One night we were playing at Banchory together and I was terrible from tee to green. He said ‘All you do is chip, I’m just going to call you Chippy’ – and the nickname has stuck. “And of course the fourth person was Adam Hunter. Before he became my coach he was a pro too and of the Scots boys on tour he was always the fun one.
“I’ll never forget a night we were stuck at Heathrow Airport. There’s a piano in the corner and after a few drinks Adam said ‘I’ll go over and give you a song, I’ll give you Great Balls of Fire’.
“We’re all thinking ‘Jeez, I didn’t know the wee man can play the piano.’
“Of course he couldn’t play a note. He just started banging this thing, his feet were up on it and everything. Brilliant fun.
“Adam came out with me on tour not to coach me – it was because he was great to be around. I was in America a lot and didn’t know anybody so just to spend time with Adam was great.
“It’s not ideal to be coached at tournaments, that’s work you put in at home. So he was a travelling companion more than anything else.”
It was at Carnoustie where the influence of Hunter – tragically lost to leukaemia in 2011 – most famously came to the fore.
He ushered Lawrie to warm up on the practice range while the rest of the world watched stunned as Open leader Jean Van de Velde imploded on the 72nd hole.
By the time it got to the play-off Lawrie was in the zone and a stunning approach to the 18th green wrapped his hands around the Claret Jug.
With one majestic sweep of his four iron from 221 yards out Lawrie lasered his ball over the fearsome Barry Burn to rest just four feet from the hole.
It’s the iconic shot that compelled Nicklaus to seek him out at the USPGA three weeks later to compliment Lawrie on one of the best shots he had ever seen executed under pressure.
Again, Nicklaus made a point of highlighting that in his touching message on Thursday.
High praise indeed when it’s coming from the guy who knows more than anyone what it takes to close out a Major victory.
Respect from his peers means a great deal to any sportsman but when it comes from the man who towers head and shoulders above the rest? No wonder the emotions poured out on a special night when Scotland stood to honour one of its best.