Lawrie’s advice for Locke

Paul Lawrie will be warning Sam Locke not to get “starry-eyed” in this week’s Open Championship when he walks round with the 19-yearold amateur in a practice round today at Carnoustie, writes Martin Dempster. Locke has come through the Paul Lawrie Foundation and was already being mentored by the 1999 Open champion when he won the Scottish Amateur at Prestwick last summer.

Now the Stonehaven player is set to benefit from Lawrie’s advice in the build up to his major debut, having earned his spot in the field by winning one of the final qualifiers at The Renaissance Club earlier in the month.

“We have to remember he is an amateur and playing in The Open for a first time, so I sat down with him and had a really long chat about what’s coming up and how he should manage his practice rounds and what he will need to deal with,” said Lawrie, speaking at the launch of a new book, The Lost Art of Putting, having written the foreword.

“He is clearly keen to take in the whole atmosphere in what will be the biggest event he’s played in but he must get his head around it. He plays his golf, he undertakes a little bit of practice. He can’t hang about these tournaments with stars in your eyes, so it’s all about getting that into his head. But he can play golf and we are really excited he can cope with the pressure and all that goes with teeing up in The Open.”