Lawrie is ready to roll back the years, 23 years on
Paul Lawrie hopes that good memories, good form and a sneak peek at the Old Course will stand him in good stead this week.
Ahead of today’s final round of the Scottish Open, there are just three Scots currently in the field for the 150th Open – Paul, Bob Macintyre and David Law.
As the 1999 Claret Jug winner says : “The Open is not an easy field to get into.
“Final qualifying was on the Tuesday of the Irish Open, which is a massive event in its own right. So I can understand if some wanted to focus on that.”
Few people will arrive at St Andrews in better form than Lawrie. In his two events on the Legends Tour last month, Lawrie lost a play-off in Jersey, before winning in Cornwall.
It may be on the over-50s circuit, but it’s all good for confidence as he heads to a place where he has plenty of good memories.
“I managed to play The Old Course a few weeks ago, and it was in great condition,” reveals the 53-year-old. “Some of the stands were up, and it was already quite brown. So hopefully it will play firm and fast, links golf at its best.
“Having won the Dunhill Links there all those years ago (2001), I know the course pretty well, and I know I can score if you can run it around and stay out of the fairway bunkers.
“My game’s in nice shape, and I’ll see how I get on because anything can happen over a links.
“It’s always a great Open at St Andrews. But with 290,000 people there during the event, it’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait to get going, starting with the Champions Challenge tomorrow.”
While the Scottish legend prepares for his 27th Open outing and the 30th anniversary of his debut, fellow Aberdonian Law is getting ready to play in golf’s oldest Championship for the first time.
Law finished in a tie for fourth last Sunday at the Irish Open to claim one of the three Open qualifying spots on offer.
Part of Lawrie’s management stable, the 31-year-old regularly plays with his mentor, so Paul has no worries about how Law will get on.
“David’s been struggling with injury, and that was his first time back after a few weeks out,” says Lawrie. “So it was a big week, and you could see what it meant when he holed his putt on 18.
“He’s never played in a Major before, so he’s pretty excited, with this being the 150th Open.
“We’ve arranged to play on Tuesday, so I’ll see how he feels about everything then. But David is very calm and level-headed generally, so I don’t think he’ll need too many tips from me.
“And having grown up at Royal Aberdeen, he has been playing links golf pretty much all his life.”