Craig Lawrie says dad turned him into a winner on Tartan Pro Tour

Craig Lawrie reckons learning the hard way in bounce matches with his ultra-competitive dad provided the backbone for him to become a double winner on the Tartan Pro Tour this season.

Craig Lawrie caddied for his dad Paul when he brought down the curtain on his European Tour career in last year's Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

The 26-year-old is the newly-crowned Farmfoods Paul Lawrie Match Play champion, having claimed that title with an impressive 8&6 win over Kieran Cantley in the 18-hole final at Muirfield.

That followed Lawrie’s success in the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Scottish Par 3 Championship in July, with both triumphs on the circuit set up by his dad last year proving sweet for the 1999 Open champion’s eldest son.

“It’s been really satisfying to have a couple of wins this year,” said Lawrie, who was four-under-par and bogey-free for the 12 holes played against Royal Dornoch Masters champion Cantley, “and hopefully I can kick on from here.”

Lawrie has played golf with his dad from a young age and, right from the outset, he was made to earn any victory over the two-time Ryder Cup player and eight-time European Tour winner.

“He’s definitely never let me win anything and I think that’s been the best thing for me, to be honest,” admitted Lawrie, who has played most of his golf since turning professional in 2014 on the PGA EuroPro Tour.

“You don’t get anywhere in life by having things handed to you. I’ve had to work hard to get to where I am just now. I’ve obviously still got a fair bit to go.

“But dad has been great in showing me where the level is and where you need to get to to be a main tour player. If you play dad and you beat him, you know you are not far away because of how good he’s been over the years. He’s definitely been a massive help.”

Craig Lawrie won the Farmfoods Paul Lawrie Match Play Championship at Muirfield, where he beat Kieran Cantley 8&6 in the final. Picture: Tartan Pro Tour

Lawrie jnr beat Lawrie snr in one of the early rounds in the Match Play event, which also saw him account for Scott Henderson, Russell Chrystie, Cameron West, Jeff Wright and Paul Shields.

“When the draw came out, I thought I’d do well to get past Scott, never mind dad as well, but, after winning both those ones, I thought to myself ‘you might have a wee chance here’,” he said.

“Kieran has been playing great all year and he’d caddied at Muirfield, so I thought I’d have to play really well to win the final and, to be fair, I did.

“I didn’t hit any bad shots and kept it in play throughout, as you have to do there. It was the first time I’d played at Muirfield but even the semi-rough was pretty thick.”

Lawrie is now aiming for more of the same over the next two days in the latest Tartan Pro Tour event, the Leven Links Classic, which also features other recent winners Danny Young and Ryan Campbell.

“It’s great,” said Lawrie of this week’s venue, then trips to The Renaissance Club, Royal Aberdeen and Carnoustie to finish the season.

“We are playing some of the best courses in the world, never mind in Scotland. They have been absolutely phenomenal and I can’t thank dad and the tour enough for what they’ve done for us

“The standard is so good and any time you can come away with a win, you know you have played some proper golf.”

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