Fresh from being named The Race to Dubai European Tour Golfer of the Month for February, Major Champion Paul Lawrie has targeted more accolades as he bids to force his way into Europe’s Ryder Cup Team.
This week, the Scot is making his first appearance in the WGC-Cadillac Championship since 2002, having qualified for the US$8.5million showpiece courtesy of his position in the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking.
Lawrie is also fourth in The Race to Dubai on the back of his superb victory at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy, a performance which saw him deservedly named The Race to Dubai European Tour Golfer of the Month for February.
It was the second time in the space of a year that Lawrie had won the coveted award, having previously done so in the aftermath of his victory at the 2011 Open de Andalucía de Golf, a title he will defend next week.
Lawrie was honoured to receive the prestigious award, and is now hoping his victory in Qatar will act as a springboard to further success.
He said: “There were quite a few players in the running to win the award, so it’s a huge honour to be named the Golfer of the Month. To win two within a year is unusual for me, but I’ve been playing very nicely and have had some good results, and obviously Qatar was the culmination of that fine run. So it’s a very nice award to win, and hopefully I can now kick on from here.”
As well as boosting both his position in The Race to Dubai and the World Ranking, his victory in Qatar also launched Lawrie firmly into the reckoning for The Ryder Cup.
Lawrie’s only taste of Ryder Cup action came in 1999 at Brookline, where he and Colin Montgomerie formed a formidable partnership, claiming two-and-a-half points after beating Phil Mickelson and David Duval on the opening morning, and Tiger Woods and Steve Pate on the second day.
Lawrie also thumped Jeff Maggert 4&3 in the Sunday Singles to cap a memorable debut, but his victory was ultimately not enough to prevent the Americans winning by a solitary point after Justin Leonard came from behind to halve his match with José María Olazábal.
Thirteen years on, Olazábal will take his team to Medinah Country Club in Illinois, America, for the 38th staging of the biennial event, and Lawrie – who is currently in third place in the European Points List – would dearly love to be on the plane.
He said: “Obviously The Ryder Cup is very much in my thoughts, mainly because I keep getting asked about it! But that’s understandable because it’s such a huge event, and I would dearly love to play in it again. But I’ve got a lot of work to do before that can happen. There’s still six or seven months of qualifying to go yet and plenty of tournaments in that time, so a lot can still happen. It’s my job now to knuckle down in these tournaments and pick up as many points as I can.”
With this week’s event marking his 496th European Tour appearance, Lawrie is also set to join the exclusive ‘500 Club’ in the next couple of months.
