Lawrie to support star pupil
PAUL LAWRIE will not be pacing the fairways of Carnoustie this year – but his star pupil will be on the links.
Sam Locke has been mentored by the 1999 Open champion through his Aberdeen-based golfing foundation and it was apt that the 19-year-old amateur should qualify for this year’s championship.
With Lawrie sidelined through injury, there was to be no emotional playing return to the venue where he won one of golf’s greatest prizes almost two decades ago.
But in the Stonehaven youngster Locke – Scottish amateur champion – Lawrie still has a strong link with the play.
Locke was shadowed by Lawrie as he got a feel for Carnoustie in practice and he would dearly love to create a headline or two just like his tutor did when outfoxing Jean Van de Velde to lift the Claret Jug.
“The whole experience has been brilliant,” said Locke, who works in the coffee shop at Lawrie’s practice facility.
“Paul walked round with me. It was really useful. Obviously I have to develop a plan that suits me. The way that Paul sees a hole may not be a shot I like and vice versa but having him there is a massive help.”
Locke’s talents were clear for all to see as he breezed through final qualifying at the Renaissance Club – the venue for next year’s Scottish Open.
Now he will join Ryder Cup star and PGA Tour winner Brandt Snedeker and Cameron Davis tomorrow, eager to not be overawed by the occasion.
Locke added: “I have only played Carnoustie once before this week – at a sponsor’s day. It is great going down the 18th with all the grandstands. I will be trying to make a name for myself on the biggest stage.” VIEWED through the window of an Open Championship, professional golf is a mightily glamorous existence with its gleaming courtesy cars, star-struck fans and an £8million prize fund.
When you have been inside the sweet shop but then spent eight years outside with your nose pressed against the glass, it must feel doubly so.
If it takes the clouds to appreciate the sun, Oliver Wilson is emerging from a long-running sea fret.
A member of Europe’s Ryder Cup team at Valhalla in 2008, Wilson’s decline saw him drift out of the picture before losing his European Tour card in 2016.
His last event was the Made in Denmark Challenge on the backwater Challenge Tour when he finished in a share of 29th to earn a cheque for 1,386 Euros.
The daily grind of the World No 1998 is anything but a lifestyle of the rich and famous.
“It’s a huge boost to get back in a Major,” said Wilson, who came through final qualifying a fortnight ago to book his place in the Open. “When you’re not in the Majors you tell yourself it’s not that big a deal but when you go back you realise how good they are.
“The whole world is watching and you’re playing on the biggest stage there is. You want to be trying to beat the best players in the world.
“I’ve been knocking around on the Challenge Tour for the past couple of years where there is not much atmosphere and it