Paul Lawrie in bid for back to back wins

Published on 30/08/2012 00:00

Paul Lawrie has moved on from Scotland to Switzerland to try to pull off the same double that Thomas Bjorn achieved last year.

A month before his return to the Ryder Cup after a 13-year gap, Lawrie won the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles on Sunday. Now he is out to take Bjorn’s Omega European Masters title as well – and the pair will go head-to-head in the opening round at Crans-sur-Sierre today.

Peter Hanson is the only other member of Jose Maria Olazabal’s side in a field which also includes 57-year-old Greg Norman and Chinese amateur Andy Zhang, the 14-year-old who, in June, became the youngest player to qualify for the US Open.

There is also Hanson’s fellow Swede Kristoffer Broberg, whose recent form has been nothing short of sensational.

On Saturday the 26-year-old became the fastest player in Challenge Tour history to earn three victories and instant promotion to the European Tour. After wins in Finland and Norway earlier in the month Broberg won the Rolex Trophy in Geneva with a closing 40-foot birdie putt.

He had played just five Challenge Tour events and finished third and ninth in the other two. He is also 75 under par for this month alone.