09/07/12
Paul Lawrie and David Law, mentored by the 1999 Open champion, are relishing the prospect of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open this week at Castle Stuart Golf Links.
Lawrie and Law will join a strong playing field that includes World No 1 and defending champion Luke Donald, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Martin Kaymer, Louis Oosthuizen and Phil Mickelson, amongst others.
The Aberdonian pair have differing goals with Lawrie chasing down a second Ryder Cup appearance at Medinah in September and Law, who is the reigning Scottish Amateur champion, seeking to make his mark in the paid ranks after turning pro last year.
Lawrie, who currently sits in third place on the European Points List for The Ryder Cup, said: “I haven’t always fared that well in the Scottish Open to be honest, I tied 25th last year.
“I’ve always said that if I was allowed to win only one more tournament in my career, I’d want it to be this.
“Obviously you want to win your national Open and I’m very much looking forward to going back. It would be great to be the champion.
“Unfortunately people are going to remember the bad weather from last year, as it was horrendous. I hope that the weather is kinder this year because Castle Stuart is a stunning part of the world and they deserve to have four days of good golf."
Lawrie, whose Foundation sponsor the Scottish Boys Championship, added: “It’s brilliant that Aberdeen Asset Management is onboard as title sponsor. They are doing great work for Scottish golf and they’ve been" very supportive of me.”
It was announced last week that Law would be given a sponsors’ invite to play in the tournament, along with his fellow SGU graduates Michael Stewart and James Byrne, all three of whom are also sponsored by Aberdeen.
Law, 21, said: “It's fantastic to be given the opportunity to play our national open, and it's a great honour to be given the chance to compete with some of the best players in the world.
“Playing in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond as an amateur in 2010 was a good taster of the European Tour for me as a young player. Although daunting, it was a great opportunity and one I was lucky to experience as an amateur.
“Since then I have matured as a player and a person, with a lot more experience under my belt. I still have a lot to learn but I’m on the right track.
“My goal for this week is to treat it like any other tournament and feel comfortable out there. If I achieve those goals then a good result will hopefully take care of itself.
“I’ve played Castle Stuart three times before and it’s a course that I think suits my game. What I’m looking forward to most about the tournament is the atmosphere, especially in front of a home crowd.”