Paul Lawrie lifted for his Senior Open debut by 65 at Lytham

LYTHAM ST ANNES, ENGLAND - JULY 18: Paul Lawrie of Scotland hits a shot during the third practice round prior to the start of the 141st Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes on July 18, 2012 in Lytham St Annes, England. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

“I’ve played nicely at Lytham in the past,” he acknowledged of that first-round effort seven years ago as he prepared to be among six players flying the Saltire in an event that starts tomorrow. “It’s a course I like. It’s a course I know well. It’s a course I’ve played well on.”

It is Lawrie’s third links assignment on the trot. But he is not paying too much attention to missed cuts in both the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club and the 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Since turning 50 on 1 January, his priorities have changed.

“This week is what it is all about for me,” he declared of a quest to claim another Claret Jug, 20 years after claiming the main one at Carnousite.

“For me to get an exemption on the Champions Tour, I need to try to have a good week. That’s the tour I want to play. The Staysure Tour (in Europe) is okay but, in the first few years after you turn 50, the Champions Tour is where you want to be.”

Since returning from an enforced lay-off as he struggled with a foot injury and subsequently underwent surgery, Lawrie has been frustrated by poor finishes to his rounds in a handful of events on the US-based circuit. Last month’s US Senior Open in Indiana was a good example as he undid some good work on the opening three days with a  closing 75.

However, he left Portrush feeling a bit more encouraged for this week’s major mission. “The way my game is, a top-ten finish would be a good week,” he said. “But, to be honest, I need to win. It’s my last Champions Tour event of the season unless I get some invites for the end of the year, which aren’t looking like coming.

“So I either win next week or I go to the Q School for the Champions Tour. I’m not sure my game is good enough to win, but you never know. You can pull out something on the week. There was some good stuff last week. It wasn’t all bad, the last five or six holes both days was a real struggle to get it going.

“For 12 or 13 holes since I came back, I’ve been competing but I have dropped a lot of shots on the last five or six holes, which is a sure sign that you are not fit enough or you are struggling with a bit of  stiffness.

“My second round last week was the best day in terms of finishing off a round, so I see that as a positive and hopefully I can keep that going this week.”

Colin Montgomerie, Sandy Lyle, Andrew Oldcorn, Gary Orr and Panmure professional Andrew Crerar are the other Scots in the Lytham line-up, the latter having secured his spot in a play-off at Fairhaven in one of the qualifiers on  Monday.

In between playing in the Scottish Open and The Open, Lawrie hosted an invitational event at Gleneagles, where he is attached as the resort’s tour ambassador, to raise funds for his own foundation, the Doddie Weir Foundation and the Beatson Cancer Charity.

“It went brilliant,” he said of the Farmfoods-sponsored event that was supported by many of Lawrie’s fellow Scots on the European Tour. “The weather was amazing and all the players, celebrities and sponsors, man, they had a great day – it couldn’t have gone any better.

“We don’t have an exact figure yet, but it will be in the £80-90,000 bracket. We will need to chat to a few sponsors to see how they felt it went before seeing if it becomes an annual event. I should probably have done that on Monday night when they were all a bit merry and enjoying themselves. It was a proper event, with [wife] Marian, as always, doing a great job organising things, and you are raising proper money.”