PAINS & NEEDLES
Forty jabs a day have Lawrie back on track
THAT Paul Lawrie didn’t pause for long to savour his Lifetime Achievement award says everything about the work ethic that drove him to success worthy of such an honour in the first place.
No sooner had the applause died down with the warm words of his heroes Jack Nicklaus and Sir Alex Ferguson ringing in his ears it was back to business as usual.
On Thursday night there he’d stood in his tuxedo weeping in front of an ovation standing 600-strong to honour his illustrious career at the Sunday Mail sportscotland Scottish Sports Awards in Glasgow.
By first thing Saturday morning he was back in the work clothes belting golf balls on an icy driving range in Aberdeen. His tweet said it all: “Been a nice couple of days off. Now it’s back to it.”
Which sums up the relentlessly high standards of a guy who is not nearly ready to put his feet up with the pipe and slippers just yet.
There are plenty of goals for Lawrie still to chase and he has already put his body through extraordinary strains in the last few weeks to prepare himself for the demands ahead.
On New Year’s Day he turns 49 – exactly 12 months short of the door to the seniors tour opening up a world of fresh, exciting possibilities, and the Aberdonian intends to be ready to hit the ground running.
That’s why he spent five days in Munich late last month at the clinic of renowned surgeon Dr Muller-Wohlfart seeking to discover the root cause of the foot problem that forced him to end his season early on the eve of the Dunhill Links.
After being poked with needles and prodded by painful physio treatment the underlying problem was eventually diagnosed as a herniated disc in his spine.
With a strict exercise regime and a level of patience for which Lawrie freely admits he is not renowned the doc assures him the problem can be fixed without the need for surgery.
But so far the practice days and sometimes even simple acts like driving the car are still performed very much through gritted teeth.
Playing through the pain is nothing new to him and judging by his focus as he outlines plans for success in the senior ranks, that’s a price worth paying to get his game ready to contend.
Lawrie said: “It was just the worst five days ever. I was in that clinic six hours a day every day seeing all the different people in his team – physios, chiropractors, doctors – because they all work on you in different bits.
“I had about 40 injections in my back and feet every day. It was tough but Jose Maria Olazabal warned me what it was going to be like when he recommended I go to see the specialist who treated him when he was struggling. It was an intense week but if it helps then fine, it’ll be worth it.
“If I can get myself fit I think I could be a really good senior. I’ve got a year’s exemption on the Champions Tour in America thanks to my Open win. So the plan is my wife Marian is going to come with me a lot of the time.
“I’m not going to play full-time but I’ll certainly play 12-15 weeks a year, added to the main tour and European Senior Tour in between. So in just over a year’s time it’s going to be a pretty cool schedule with all the best tours to play on except the PGA Tour.
“It’s exciting because a lot of players suddenly get a new lease of life in the seniors. You get to a certain point around where it’s hard to compete on the regular tour. These boys are younger, have a bit more yardage in them and their nerves are better so they don’t miss as many four footers.
“Then you go from being the oldest in the race to the youngest when you turn 50. You’re the rookie.
“I still hit it the same distance, I still putt and chip pretty good so I’m hoping I can win quite a lot as a senior. But these guys are good. So I’m prepared for it being tough but you’ve got to back yourself and feel as though you can still do it.”
With the hunger and drive that has underpinned his rise from a humble assistant pro at Banchory Golf Club to a Major champion and Ryder Cup hero, I’m inclined to back him to succeed as well.