Lawrie is aged 46 and ranked No. 346, and hasn’t come close to contending in a major since rallying from 10 shots behind in the final round to win the British Open at Carnoustie in 1999.
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“As I stand, I need to invite myself to my own tournament – which I will do, obviously”. It would be something I would remember forever.
However, since scoring in the low thirties on one or other half of the course is normally a pre-requisite for those breaking 70 in any round it was unusual if not unique that the tally for neither his outward or inward half began with a three as he struggled home in 40.
He added: “It’s always really cool to play golf in Scotland in front of the best fans in the world”.
“There’s an unbelievable amount of world-class players playing this week, so I’m not even thinking about Sunday as of yet”.
Meanwhile, it was a “Beecher’s Brook day” at Royal Portrush yesterday as favourites fell like snow off a roof in the Cathedral Eye North of Ireland Amateur Open Championship during the first and the third and quarter-final rounds.
Johnson fired a seven-under 65 at St Andrews for a one-stroke advantage over the field but his Chambers Bay tormentor is only two shots back as he chases a historic single-season grand slam.
HAPPY: Paul Lawrie received a hug from Arnold Palmer [GETTY] “Today I hit a decent shot on the first and missed the putt and then holed the bunker shot at the second”. I was really nervous on the first tee but once I got off the tee I felt quite comfortable and it was nice to birdie the first two holes and get the round off and running. They cheer all the players, to be fair, but when you’re a Scot and you get it going out there, then obviously you hear your name a little bit more than the guys you’re playing with, for instance.
It marked the equal-second best front nine at an Open championship, behind only Denis Durnian (28) in 1983. I went out with a number in my head trying to shoot 68 so I came up just short, but I’m pretty pleased with a 69.
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This is the 30th time the British Open has been hosted at St Andrews. He repaired the damage, however, with a two-putt birdie on the last in a round of 69, after play had resumed at 6.0 last evening. “That’s kind of what happened to me on the back a couple times”. Lawrie’s T-17 finish at last week’s Scottish Open was his best of the year, the product of four days of solid ball-striking and an overall disappointing display on the Gullane greens.
