Lawrie takes a swing at lack of punishment over slow play
IF there is one thing that sticks in Paul Lawrie’s craw then it is slow play. As an outspoken critic of the game’s snail-like campaigners, the Aberdonian is not afraid to make his feelings known.
It was no surprise then that the ponderous palavers that Bryson DeChambeau embarked on during last weekend’s Northern Trust Open just about had Lawrie cracking the cat o’ nine tails in an exasperated fankle.
DeChambeau came in for stinging criticism from leading players, AT 61, Sandy Lyle is not quite ready to ride off into the sunset even if some of his fellow golden oldies are doing just that. Take Tom Watson, for instance.
The celebrated, decorated Kansas veteran, who is so venerated he just about comes with his own marble plinth, has found a new passion for a form of equestrianism which is now fuelling his competitive fire as he slowly winds down his golfing career.
“I’m quite blunt with Tom and say ‘what are you doing on a bloody horse at your age?’,” said Lyle. “If you fall off at our age, you are still feeling it a month later whereas you just shrugged off something like that in your 20s. But he seems to love that competitiveness.”
As for Lyle? Well, the big Scot is still enjoying the new experiences this game of great longevity can dish up.
“I’m 61 and making my debut,” he said with a smile as he looked ahead to his first appearance in the Scottish Senior Open, which gets underway today at Craigielaw.
For a truly great champion, the will to win remains even if those wins get harder to come by as he climbs the brae on the age front.
While he knocked off a couple of World Hickory Open triumphs in 2014 and 2016 his last tour title on the senior circuit was eight years ago.
“I’d love to have a win or a cup to lift above my shoulders,” said the former Open and Masters champion. “I don’t mind if it is this week or even a nine-hole tournament. Just a win would be very nice.
“At the age of 61, you always keep in the back of your mind that Tom was just one week off 60 and he almost pulled off the biggest victory of his whole career in The Open [in 2009].”
Despite the increasing years, golf remains a work in progress for Lyle. It was ever thus in a game where the search for perfection goes on and on and makes the quest for the Holy Grail look as easy as a birl around the frozen food aisles.
As Bobby Jones observed back in the day, “no one will ever have golf under his thumb”. Lyle is still tinkering here and tampering there and the vast expanse of his back garden in Balquhidder still echoes to the sound of industrious thwacks and clatters. pundits and the public and while he initially defended his actions with a long-winded, condescending lecture to the media, the Ryder Cup player has since admitted he will work on improving his pace of play.
Lawrie, who is competing in this weekend’s Scottish Senior Open at Craigielaw, described DeChambeau’s self-defence as a “rambling mess” and lamented the fact that PGA Tour officials failed to take a strong stance.
“What I don’t get is that they have a video of him [DeChambeau] taking two minutes 20 seconds to hit an eight-foot putt and taking three minutes to hit a 70-yard chip so why can’t they act on that?,” said Lawrie. “The players are up in arms about it. Players understand it’s hard for officials to catch players. They are clever. When they go on the clock they speed up.
“[Bernhard] Langer has done it for as long as we can remember. You can’t catch him. But Bryson was caught red-handed on video so do something about it.
“Bryson could have just held his hands up, said sorry, say I’ve been caught and that he’ll do something about it. It’s the easiest answer he could give. But oh no, he goes the other route and blames other people.
“If they [tour officials] don’t take action now then they never will. That was a big backlash. I’ve never seen anything like that before.
“At least they [the PGA Tour] have said they will review their [slow play] policy but I’d be surprised if that happens. The only way you will stop it is with a referee with every game.
“On our tour [in Europe] I can’t imagine they could afford that. The PGA Tour possibly could. I’m not saying there’s an easy fix but they had an unbelievable opportunity there to give someone a two-shot penalty but they let him go.”