European Tour name Paul Lawrie golfer of month for February

SCOTTISH golf’s recent resurgence has been recognised by Paul Lawrie winning the European Tour Golfer of the Month award for February on the back of his stunning success in the Qatar Masters.

The victory, his second in the Gulf Swing event, having also won in Doha in 1999, lifted the Aberdonian back into the world’s top 50 to re-open doors into tournaments like the World Golf Championships and, hopefully, next month’s Masters.

“As ever, it was hard to separate the leading candidates,” said a spokesman for the judging panel.

“Some of us were torn completely between Rafael Cabrera-Bello’s stirring win against a strong leaderboard in Dubai and Paul Lawrie’s equally compelling success in Qatar.

“What was better, the Spaniard holding his nerve under pressure from Lee Westwood [and Stephen Gallacher], or Lawrie’s brilliant final round [a 65] to finish clear of a quality field?

“By the narrowest of margins, we went with Lawrie and, furthermore, he followed up his victory with a good showing at the Accenture.”

That was reference to the former Open champion’s first appearance in the WGC Match Play event in eight years.

He marked his return with wins over Justin Rose and Ryo Ishikawa in Arizona last week before finally bowing out to fellow Scot Martin Laird in the last 16.

It is the second time Lawrie has won a Golfer of the Month award in the space of 12 months, having also landed the prize last March after winning the Andalucia Open.

Before defending that title in a fortnight’s time, following a short break at home, the 43-year-old is heading back to America for next week’s WGC Cadillac Championship at the Doral resort in Florida.

“It has been really good to get back to a normal routine of taking the boys to school then hitting balls at Deeside over the past couple of days,” he noted on his blog.

That also revealed the standard of golf Lawrie is having to produce to keep up with his elder son Craig, who will be in the field for next month’s Scottish Boys’ Championship at Murcar Links. “Craig and I played at Deeside as he finished his prelim exams,” he added. “We had a halved match with both of us shooting six-under (now you understand how he beats me from time to time). He played very nicely this morning and has improved hugely.”

Laird (35), Lawrie (44) and Gallacher (100) are all inside the world’s top 100 – the first time Scotland has had three players among golf’s elite for eight years.