Paul Lawrie and Martin Laird, winners on both sides of the Atlantic a little over three months ago, are back on home soil looking for further cause for celebration at this week’s Barclays Scottish Open.
The Scottish pair achieved a unique transatlantic double on March 27, when Lawrie won the Open de Andalucía by Turkish Airlines on The European Tour in Spain just a few hours before Laird captured the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the US PGA Tour, and now the golf fans of the Highlands are ready to welcome both players to Castle Stuart Golf Links.
“It's fantastic to come to a place that has not had much top golf before, and I think it will be mobbed tomorrow,” said Lawrie. “I think a lot of people are planning on coming, which is great for the players.
“We enjoy playing in front of big crowds, so we’re all looking forward to it. I think all of the comments have been really good about the course. I have not heard any negative comments in the players’ lounge at all this week, and why would there be? We are all just itching to get going.”
Lawrie has been struggling with a shoulder injury, opting to rest last week, but had no intention of sitting out his home Open, an event he would dearly love to win.
He said: “I think I’ve always said, if I was allowed one more event win, it would be here – it would be this tournament. Of course I would like another Open Championship – who wouldn’t? But I think if you were not going to get another Open, The Barclays Scottish Open would be next – it’s your home Open.
“My record is not overly good, similar to my Open record over the last four or five years, which isn’t great either. So I would just like to play well this week and next week. But it would be a huge win for me this week if I won.”
Laird is making a name for himself on the global stage and, as the World Number 25, is the highest-ranked home player in the field this week. And although he lives in Colorado and plays predominantly on the US PGA Tour since moving to America 11 years ago, Laird has not forgotten his roots.
“It definitely feels like home, every time I get back in Scotland,” said the Glaswegian. “I always say it feels like home, it doesn't matter how long I've been away. Playing links golf, it definitely feels like I’m in Scotland, because it’s the only place you'll come and play a golf course like this. The courses in America, they don’t play like a links course like this does.”
Asked for his comments on the course, a new venue on The European Tour, Lawrie thinks the last three holes could prove decisive.
He said: “When you move into the back nine, the 16th is a drivable par four, but you’ve got to keep it off the right there. The 17th is a tough par three but then on the 18th, even though it was off the back tee, I only hit a driver and a rescue in there this morning.
“So I think for the last three holes, there are two really good birdie chances with the tough par three in the middle. So coming down the stretch, you're probably going to have to make at the least one or two birdies to have a chance of winning. It’s a great finish. I think they have done the whole thing very well.”
