Lawrie makes most of late, late entry with four-under-par effort

Paul Lawrie made a promising start in the $3 million Omega Dubai Desert Classic after only getting into the star-studded field an hour before teeing off.

The 49-year-old replaced Ryder Cup team-mate Peter Hanson, who pulled out with a bad back, at 7:30am.

Aberdonian Lawrie opened with a four-under-par 68, which was matched later in the day by Scott Jamieson.

An eagle-3 at the tenth sparked a burst that saw Lawrie, who has missed this event only once since 1992, start for home on the Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club by picking up five shots in five holes. “I knew Peter Hanson was struggling and, after hitting a few balls on the range this morning, he said he couldn’t play,” said Lawrie, who has his oldest son, Craig, caddying for him.

“I had an hour before my tee time. I did not think I was going to get in here, to be honest, as being second reserve the day before is a big ask, so it ended up well for me and four-under was about right for me. Now it would be nice to kick on from here and make my luck pay off, I suppose.”

Lawrie, whose best finish in this event was fourth in 2000, was one-over after a doublebogey 6 at the sixth, where his second shot hit an advertising board and ended up in some scrubland, before transforming his day by covering the last 11 holes in five under par. “I played pretty decent, hitting some nice shots today,” he said. “The only poor shots I hit were two 3-woods off the 13th tee – the first one and the provisional both going left.”

Out in the afternoon, Jamieson covered his last six holes in three-under as the Floridabased Glaswegian bounced back from missing the cut in Abu Dhabi. Richie Ramsay, who was top Scot in that event, recovered from being twoover after three to sign for a 70, matching efforts from Connor Syme and Marc Warren.

Stephen Gallacher finished bogey-bogey for a 71, one better than 1996 champion Colin Montgomerie. David Drysdale withdrew before his afternoon tee time due to a bad back.

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