THE BARCLAYS SCOTTISH OPEN

Kaymer makes more than a million with back-to-back victories FROM "THE INDEPENDENT" GOLF NEWS SERVICE By James Corrigan and Mark Garrod Martin Kaymer's form happens to be as rude as his bank balance as he goes into this week's Open Championship. For the second Sunday running the young German lifted one of the European Tour's most prestigious trophies and in doing so raised his earnings for the last fortnight to well over the £1m mark (£500,000 for the "Scottish" + £565,000 for the "French"). If anything, his victory in the Barclays Scottish Open was even more impressive than his last. After beating Lee Westwood in a play-off for the French Open the 24-year-old came from behind to defeat France's Raphaël Jacquelin and the overnight leader Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño of Spain by two strokes. Last week's cheque was just over £565,000. This week's was £500,000 – and he now is not only second to Paul Casey on the European money list, but also just outside the world's top 10 heading into Turnberry. Kaymer, who began his run of form in Paris the previous week with a course record 62, needed "only" a two-under-par 69 after starting the day a shot behind Fernandez-Castaño. "To win in Scotland, the home of golf is always something very special," he said. "I missed the cut the week after my first two wins, but this week was obviously different. "Now everybody asks me about a third win in a row, but we are playing in a major and the field is going to be the best we have all year. The money is nice, but it's not the most important thing. If you are out there playing for the money I think you have chosen the wrong job." Fernandez-Castaño's hopes of a fifth Tour win – this was Kaymer's fourth – nosedived when he did not manage a single birdie until the 14th hole. But running up a bogey 6 following a wild drive on the hole before that had given him a deficit he could not make up. Jacquelin came through to be joint runner-up with a 66. Disappointing on the final day were both Lee Westwood and Retief Goosen. Westwood had oozed confidence after middle rounds of 66 and 64, but closed with a level-par 71 for eighth spot alongside his fellow Englishman Ross Fisher. Whether Fisher plays in the Open remains to be seen. He flew back to London to be with his wife, Jo, who is expecting their first child on Tuesday, and said: "What will be will be. The Open is the most important tournament in a calendar year, but the birth of our first child is something I don't want to miss." If there are no signs of an imminent delivery on Tuesday he will be at Turnberry, but is ready to pull out at any moment – even if he was six ahead with a round to play, he says. "The ideal would be to two-putt to win next Sunday, make a short winner's speech and then fly home." Ian Poulter, the runner-up at last year's Open, was down in 32nd place after a disappointing 72, but that was still better than Colin Montgomerie and Rory McIlroy. They finished in a tie for 46th following 73s. Montgomerie, fortunate to make the halfway cut, said: "That was a poor round of golf. Again." McIlroy was just as despondent and explained how he needs to work on his iron play before Thursday's first round. "I was just struggling a bit," said the 20-year-old. "This week I really wanted to play well to give myself some momentum. Now I'll spend more time practising than I will on the course the next three days because I want to get it sorted out." The Ulsterman called his status as joint second-favourite for the Open as "bonkers" and added: "I wouldn't back myself at those odds." Kaymer is now second to Paul Casey on the European Tour's money list and just outside the top 10 in the world heading into The Open. DANE FINED £2,000 FOR SLOW PLAY AT LOCH LOMOND

Denmark's Mads Vibe-Hastrup has become the latest player to be handed a one-stroke penalty - and a £2,000 fine - for slow play on the European Tour.
The 30-year-old took 74 and 59 seconds rather than the allowed 55 to play his tee shots to the short eighth and 17th holes in the third round of the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

Two "bad" times in one round led European Tour chief referee John Paramor to turn his 70 into a 71, after he had come off the 18th green.

Martin Laird grinds it out to earn £60,000 for 10th place

FROM THE SCOTSMAN.COM WEBSITE

By MIKE AITKEN

Although he was some way short of his best form and spilled four shots in five holes on the front nine, Martin Laird gritted his teeth on the inward half at Loch Lomond, came home in 32 and marked his professional debut on the European Tour by finishing tenth at the Barclays Scottish Open and collecting a cheque for £60,000.
Eager to impress his ain folk, the Arizona-based pro, who plays most of his golf on the US PGA Tour, acknowledged he needed to rely on mental discipline to overcome a few shot-making flaws in order to post 71 for 275, nine under par.

The highest plac ed of the 14 Scots who took part in the £3million event, the 26-year-old said: "That was about as hard as I've ground it out in a while. I had to keep my focus because I didn't play very well. I wanted to chase the leaders. When that didn't happen, I was pleased with the way I played on the back nine to get it back.

"The last thing I wanted was to fall down the leaderboard on Sunday. There were plenty of shouts from the crowd and I don't normally get that in America. I was about as motivated as I could be on the back nine to try and shoot under par."

Having thoroughly enjoyed his first taste of pro golf on home turf, Laird now heads for Turnberry and his Open debut over the Ailsa. "When you are struggling, it's nice to hear people supporting you and hopefully it will be the same at The Open," he added. "I guess I'm not really under the radar now."

While his priority remains to retain his playing privileges in America, Laird says he would love to be able to play in the Diageo and the Dunhill Links as well as the Scottish Open.

"I've always said that if I do well over the next couple of months (on the US PGA Tour] then I can come back. I'd love to be able to play all the tournaments in Scotland if I could. If my game keeps going in the right direction then, hopefully, I can play in the Dunhill."

Apart from Laird's consistent debut – he received deserved applause for a terrific birdie 3 on the last – the home contingent won't remember this staging of the Scottish Open with any great affection. For example, Paul Lawrie, 72 for 280, four-under, felt the sheen was removed from a decent effort by successive bogeys over the two closing holes.

"I'd hit a beautiful shot into the 17th green, rolled the putt a couple of feet by and missed the one back," he rued. "Then I three-putted the last. That said, the best golf I played at Loch Lomond was in the last round. I hit it so well and couldn't hole a putt. In the earlier part of the week I'd chipped and putted great, but today it was shocking.

"Welcome to my world. On the days you play poorly, you up and down everything. And on days you play well, you can't get it in. It'd be nice to put the two together, and doing it at the Open would be even nicer than doing it here."

About to tee up in the oldest major for the first time as a professional, David Drysdale also signed off at Loch Lomond on a salutary note. He started the week encouragingly, but ran up a triple-bogey 7 at the last and posted 73 for 285, one over par.

He pulled his drive into the loch and was forced to unleash his third shot on the 18th from the tee. The second drive, all but inevitably, went right into the rough where he could do little more than hack out.

It would be wrong to suggest, mark you, that the experience was a sobering one since it's hard to imagine any golfer with a more realistic view of the game or a more modest appraisal of his own standing.

"I just want to focus on what I'm doing and don't want to build it up to be anything bigger," he said of his major championship debut.

"I'll try to keep as much pressure off myself as possible, and just go out and play the way I know I can play."

Jason McCreadie, the Tartan Tour player who made the cut in a European Tour event for the first time here at the Scottish Open, found the standard over the weekend at Loch Lomond difficult to match and carded 77 for 288, four-over.

Scott Drummond, 167th in the Order of Merit, is battling to retain his Tour card and knows he needs much stronger finishes than 72 for 285 if he wants to keep his playing rights.
***The full article above contains 815 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper on Monday.