Law looking to be among 'four Scots' in Walker Cup

DAVID LAW, who heads the field for this weekend's Scottish Champion of Champions at Leven in the absence of Great Britain & Ireland squad members Michael Stewart, James Byrne, Ross Kellett and Kris Nicol, is confident up to four Scots can make the team for the Walker Cup at Royal Aberdeen.

"We've got a strong team and didn't lose any players to the pros last year, which was probably with a view to the Walker Cup. Three or four Scots could make the team," said Law, who was left out of that GB&I squad following a disappointing 2010 but has since given the selectors a jolt with two strong performances in South Africa, where he won the Northern Amateur Open and lost in a play-off for that country's national stroke-play championship.

For 20-year-old Law, it is once-in-a-lifetime chance to play in the event on his own doorstep, the Hazlehead player having taken out membership at Royal Aberdeen specifically to boost his hopes of facing the Americans in the biennial encounter.

"I had a bad year last year, but there was never any doubt in my mind that I could be in contention for the Walker Cup," added the double Scottish champion in 2009. "Royal Aberdeen membership has advanced my game, they invited me to join after winning the Scottish Boys there and it's been a great help to me to play and practice on a course of that standard whenever I want."

Part of the reason Law didn't perform as well as he would have liked last season was the unprovoked street attack he suffered outside an Aberdeen casino following a night out with some friends in November 2009. He then suffered a shoulder injury during a practice round at Muirfield last May ahead of the Amateur Championship, forcing him to stop playing for more than two months. "What had happened and the injury kept niggling away at me and I didn't perform great even before the shoulder problem," he added "But, once I regained full fitness, I played nicely towards the end of last year and finished 2010 confidently.

Having enjoyed a "a great preparation" for the new season in South Africa, Law, a Paul Lawrie protege, is now looking forward to starting his domestic campaign on the Fife coast, where his main rivals for the Champion of Champions title are likely to be Jordan Findlay, Paul Shields, Scott Larkin, James White and title holder Ross Bell.

Findlay lost to Stewart in last year's Scottish Amateur final, as did Shields more recently in the South African equivalent, while Larkin is a course and distance winner at Leven, the Royal Aberdeen man having claimed the Gold Medal on his last visit there. White, a member at neighbouring Lundin, warmed up for this event by winning the Scottish Universities' title on Wednesday.

According to Law, the players who were out in South Africa and, before that, the Middle East, should have an edge this weekend when it comes to chipping and putting. "It's quite evident that it's the short game that counts and here (in Scotland) at winter time there's no good greens or the weather doesn't allow the facilities to be good," he said.

"That was the main key for the two trips for me, improving my short game. I might have spent 45 minutes to an hour hitting balls and spent the rest of the day chipping and putting, it's something I've taken from Paul (Lawrie). On average I spent about five hours. When you've got the opportunity to use good greens you really do need to use it."