Former Open champion philosophical about business blow

There are no tournaments to play in, his golf centre has closed and his foundation for young golfers in the north-east has been put on hold.

Day-to-day life for us all has been fundamentally changed by the coronavirus lockdown and the Lawrie family are no exception.

Former Open champion Paul and his wife Marian have seen every daily aspect of their working lives stopped in its tracks.

He said: “Marian and I have been walking in the mornings, going for about an hour and a half.

“After lunch, we’ve got a few jobs to do. I’ve obviously been watching a lot of news, trying to keep track of what is happening.

“We obviously have the golf centre closed. We closed that before people were told to close things. We thought it was right because it was a driving range as well as the golf course.

“We have gates that we can lock and we felt it was important to close it for the sake of the staff and the customers. It took up a few days to get all that shut up.

“It’s the uncertainty of it all. Nobody knows how long it is going to be and I think it is going to be longer than this initial spell.

“It’s not great, but you’ve just got to get on with it. I’m not a scientist so I don’t know how long this is going to be.

“I’ve been chipping a few balls in the garden. We also put one of the foundation nets up so that me and the boys can hit a few balls, but we’ve done very little at the moment.”

The closure of the golf centre has also impacted on the family business.

Lawrie said: “It is difficult. We employ a number of staff and the furlough scheme is going to be a huge benefit to us. But we obviously have a lot of other things that we can’t stop. There’s a lot of money going out at the moment that we can’t do anything about

“But everyone is in that position, not just me, so I’m not moaning about that.

“That’s just life and you’ve got to get on with it. The foundation is totally stopped at the minute as well. It’s not great, but it’s just life at the minute.”