By Sarah Gwynn, europeantour.com
in St Andrews
They say you drive for show and putt for dough, and that phrase has never been truer than for Scotsman Paul Lawrie, who is hoping to cash in on some recent improved form on the greens at this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Lawrie rolled in a 40-foot birdie putt on the final hole of the inaugural edition of the prestigious tournament, in 2001, to win by one stroke from Ernie Els for the fourth of his now eight European Tour titles.
The catalyst for the victory was the fortunate acquisition of a new putter, and he hopes history repeats itself as he returns to the sublime venues of St Andrews, Carnoustie – the scene of his 1999 Open Championship triumph – and Kingsbarns.
“In 2001 I’d been playing lovely golf but putting very poorly,” said Lawrie, who is one of six players in the field to have played in every one of the 15 editions of the US$5million tournament.
“I was on the practice putting green at Kingsbarns and one of the Odyssey guys had a new style of putter, the first two-ball model. I tried it out for a while and putted magnificently with it, but he said it was the only one he had and I couldn’t have it.
“Luckily I was able to run faster than him and I nicked it. I holed pretty much everything that week and that long putt to win on the 18th summed it up.”
Lawrie has enjoyed some promising results in recent weeks, notching back-to-back top ten finishes in Denmark and the Netherlands – where he opened with a nine under par 61 on the first day – before taking the past fortnight off to rest a niggling back injury.
The reason for that resurgence?
“It’s a new putter again,” he said. “I put a new Caledonia putter in the bag a couple of months ago and I’ve been putting beautifully with it. The grooves are a bit deeper, and I’m rolling it better than I have for a long time.
“My putting stats are much improved and I’m holing out well – from six feet and in it’s been phenomenal.
"When you’re holing putts, the rest of your game benefits as your confidence builds and builds.”
Paul Lawrie
Lawrie, who will have Aberdeen Asset Management Chief Executive Martin Gilbert for company in the usual Pro-Am format of the tournament, added: “This is one of my favourite weeks of the year.
“It’s great fun and playing with Martin is enjoyable; he plays quickly and knows when to pick the ball up when he’s out of the hole.”
