Lawrie tastes instant success with Torrance

Published on Sunday 19 July 2009 23:30

PAUL Lawrie, the Open champion ten years ago at Carnoustie, has turned to Bob Torrance, the Scot who tutored Padraig Harrington to victory at Carnoustie in 2007 and Birkdale last year, in a bid to sort out his own swing and help him contend at the highest level again.

If the first fruits of the fledgling partnership between this illustrious pair are anything to go by – the Aberdonian signed for 68 and 288 in the final round of the Open which included an albatross 2 on the par-5 seventh – then the future for the former Ryder Cup player looks bright.

Although nine Scots qualified to play in the 138th Open, only Lawrie and David Drysdale, 73 for 290 on his debut, played all 72 holes. The abiding recollection of this championship from the home of golf's perspective was the mud-slinging between Sandy Lyle and Colin Montgomerie which overshadowed the build-up to the Open. Once a tee was placed in the ground, there were no headline-makers with club-in-hand to match Lyle's foot-in-mouth talent for generating stories.

That said, after carding 76 in the third round and playing "awful" golf, Lawrie signed off on a high. "I saw Bob on the range last night for an hour-and-a-half," said the highest-placed Scot. "I saw him again this morning and quite liked what he had to say. It was very simple and he gave me a couple of things to work on. We're going to have a whole day on it at Largs on Tuesday and I'll make a decision then (about working together].

"He said to move off it a little bit more on the backswing and get back to the rhythm that I used to have when I was with Adam (Hunter, Lawrie's former coach]. I did a little of that today and hit it really good. I've always to hear what he had to say. He's one of those boys that you respect so much. I was going well with Adam for a long time and I never really had the chance (to work with Bob]. But on Saturday I played awful and thought I had nothing to lose."

Given that making an albatross in major championship golf is as rare as finding a book of Penny Blacks in a post office, it was the first occasion Lawrie had ever made a 2 on a par 5. "I had 213 yards to the pin, a little off the left and I hit a three-quarters 4-iron. I saw it go in, too, which was kind of nice. It was the perfect distance really. I hit driver off the tee over the corner, a big high drive over the left-hand bunker."

While it didn't have quite the resonance of Gene Sarazen's 4-wood to the 15th at Augusta in 1935, the shot heard around Maidens was encouraging enough to make the Aberdonian feel more positive about what the rest of the season holds for him.

OPEN ALBATROSSES

PAUL Lawrie achieved what is thought to be only the eighth albatross in Open history when he sank his 4-iron to the 538-yard seventh in yesterday's final round at Turnberry.

The history of such heroics is patchy when looking back through the very oldest tournament, but what cannot be argued with is that the 1999 champion joins the following list of players who are confirmed to have achieved the feat:

'Young' Tom Morris: Prestwick 1870, 1st hole, 1st round (three on 578-yard par six)

Johnny Miller: Muirfield 1980, 5th hole, 2nd round

Bill Rogers: Royal Birkdale 1983, 17th hole, 1st round

Manny Zerman: St Andrews 2000, 5th hole 2nd round

Jeff Maggert: Royal Lytham 2001, 6th hole, 2nd round

Greg Owen: Royal Lytham, 2001, 11th hole 3rd round

Gary Evans: Royal Troon 2004, 4th hole, 1st round