Buoyant Lawrie targets Ryder Cup

BOOSTED by his sensational second-place finish in the season-ending Dubai World Championship, Paul Lawrie is aiming to make a strong challenge to bridge a 13-year gap by earning a place in the European team for next year’s Ryder Cup in Chicago.

The 42-year-old, who made his one and only appearance in the biennial event at Brookline in 1999 – the same year he won the Open Championship at Carnoustie – also has his sights set on facing the Americans when the Ryder Cup is staged on Scottish soil at Gleneagles in three years’ time.

Lawrie moved up to sixth on the European points list after securing a £525,000 cheque in the Dubai finale and admitted yesterday in Glasgow, where he was the guest of honour at the PGA Scottish Region annual lunch, that the Ryder Cup is firmly in his thoughts heading into the 2012 campaign.

“I am desperate to make another team and I would love to make Jose Maria Olazabal’s side as I played for him in the Royal Trophy and he was a phenomenal captain,” said the Aberdonian, as he was reunited with fellow guest of honour Jean van de Velde, one of the men he beat in a play-off to win the world’s oldest major in Angus.

“I would be foolish to sit here and think I am going to make the team next year as there’s a long way to go, but if I can continue to play how I did in Dubai there is no reason why I can’t have a chance.”

Asked about Gleneagles, where he has been mentioned as a potential captain, Lawrie added: “I want to play there, too. I know you are suppose to slow down when you get older, but I feel as though I am going the other way. I feel as though I’m getting better, both as a ball-striker and a player, as I get older, so I want to play at Gleneagles. Anyway, I don’t think I would have a chance of being captain there even if I play in another Ryder Cup before then.”

Lawrie, who admitted his performance last weekend had been more significant than his first win in nine years in the Anadalucia Open in Malaga in March, will tee off his 2012 campaign in the Volvo Champions event in South Africa next month before moving on to the Middle East for big-money tournaments in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Dubai. His early season schedule will also now include a trip to America, having earned a spot in the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral in March, on the back of pushing Alvaro Quiros all the way to the wire in Dubai on Sunday.

“I’ve not played in America for around five years, so it will nice to go back there,” said Lawrie, who has climbed to 87th in the world and will also get into the WGC-World Match-Play Championship in Arizona a fortnight earlier if he can get into the top 64 in the early part of the season.

“It is important to get the year off to a good start,” he added. “The first eight to ten tournaments will probably determine what happens in terms of the Ryder Cup and it would be great if I could get into the WGC Match-Play as well as the Cadillac Championship.

“My Plan A at the moment would be to play in the Match-Play, hopefully get an invite for the Honda Championship the following week and then play at Doral. If not, Plan B will be to just go over for the Cadillac Championship.”

Lawrie, who finished 18th in the Race to Dubai – his best season since 2002 – is set to fight the pain barrier in the coming months, having decided against having an operation to try to cure a troublesome foot injury. “I was down seeing a specialist in Glasgow a few weeks ago and was told there was a 40 per cent chance an operation might not work,” he revealed. “I was also told it might need two or three operations and could have to take six months off after the first one. I can’t do that. It’s actually only six or seven weeks in the season, when we are playing hilly courses, that it bothers me so I will just take some painkillers when it gets bad. Anyway, we’re a tough lot from Aberdeen.”

Lawrie suffered one of the most painful blows in his life following the death of Adam Hunter, his long-time coach and a close friend, in October. He’s now working with Andrew Locke, who is based at Inchmarlo in Banchory, but admitted that Hunter had been on his mind throughout the final round in Dubai.

“I thought about him a lot as he was a good friend as well as a coach. So I will be thinking about him for a long time to come. Following Adam’s death, I needed someone to look at my swing now and again and I have seen Andrew twice over the past couple of months.

“I don’t need anyone with me at tournaments because I will continue to work on what Adam and I did, but I need someone to keep an eye on things so I will probably see Andrew a couple of times per month during the season.”

One thing for certain is that Lawrie has the desire to work as hard on his game as he ever has. “After the second round in Dubai, I hit 200 balls just with my driver, something I’ve never done before at a tournament,” he said.

“Since coming home, I’ve already been out hitting balls at Deeside, where the work I was able to do on the short game area was the reason I had such a good distance control with my wedges last week.”