Paul Lawrie captured last year’s Open de Andalucía by one shot from John Edfors. Here, in an excerpt from The European Tour Yearbook 2012, we recap how the Scot succeeded in Spain in 2011.
Scottish golf might not have had much reason to celebrate in recent years but Paul Lawrie helped put the smile back on the face of the nation which gave the game to the world with a battling victory in the Open de Andalucia de Golf by Turkish Airlines.
It was not only the 42 year old’s first victory on The European Tour for nearly nine years, but also proved to be the first leg of a notable Scottish double on Sunday March 27 as, later that evening, Lawrie’s fellow countryman Martin Laird won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill on the US PGA Tour – the first time in history two Scots have won on opposite sides of the Atlantic on the same day.
With six runners-up finishes to his name since his last victory in the 2002 Celtic Manor Wales Open, Lawrie must have feared it was going to be another near miss when, from one shot ahead overnight, he bogeyed the first two holes at the same time as his closest challenger, England’s Mark Foster, birdied them.
But the winner of The 1999 Open Championship at Carnoustie kept his composure and, as Foster slipped back, he turned matters around – a scintillating stretch of four birdies in five holes from the turn helping him to a 12 under par total of 268, one shot too good for Sweden’s Johan Edfors who took second and two ahead of third placed Felipe Aguilar of Chile.
To order your copy of The European Tour Yearbook 2012, a 240-page, full colour hardback Official Publication with iconic pictures by Getty Images and essays from some of the game's top writers that takes you every step of the way through 52 tournaments and 29 destinations on The 2011 Race to Dubai, click here.
