Paul Lawrie believes he can

make next Ryder Cup team

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By Martin Dempster
Despite missing out on victory in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, Paul Lawrie believes he can be a serious contender over the next 12 months in the battle to get into Colin Montgomerie's Ryder Cup team in Wales.
After giving an excellent account of himself over four days in Perthshire, the 40-year-old Aberdonian had to settle for a share of third place behind two Swedes, Peter Hedblom firing a closing 67 to win by a shot from compatriot Martin Erlandsson, who bolted through the field with a ten-under 62.
Lawrie, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, the 1999 Open champion, reckoned he could easily have come out on top at the end of a week when his recent work with coach Bob Torrance started to pay dividends and he now has his sights set on a second Ryder Cup appearance.
"Based on the things I am working on and the way they are going, I think I've got a real chance of making next year's team – I've just got to keep thinking that in my head," said Lawrie, who played in the 1999 match at Brookline, where he partnered Montgomerie.
"I know the stats don't lie but I think I'm a better player than someone who's only played in one Ryder Cup team and I'd love to be in the side in Wales – it's going to be a hell of a team."
Lawrie, who picked up a cheque for £78,820 and jumped from 97th to 73rd on the Race to Dubai Order of Merit, was pleased with his week's work at Gleneagles despite coming up just short in his bid for a first Tour triumph in seven years.
"I played extremely good again and the worst I could have finished this week was ten-under," he added. "It was another week of solid ball-striking and I could easily have won. It's an incredibly fine line between winning and finishing third, so we are getting much closer."
Hedblom, who had lost to Englishman Simon Dyson in a play-off in the KLM Open in the Netherlands seven days earlier, was delighted to have bounced back straight away and is looking forward to testing himself against the world's best players in the coming months.
"It feels unbelievable," declared the 39-year-old, who won the Moroccan Open in 1996 but then add to wait 11 years for his only other success on the European Tour in the Malaysian Open."As I was standing over the last putt, I was saying to myself, 'I don't want to do another play-off'. This is my first win in Europe and to do it in the 'Home of Golf' is even better – this is where you want to win.
"I've played twice in the US Open but have never played in a World Golf Championship event in my career. My goal has always been to get into the top 50 in the world so that I can play in those events as well as the majors because I think I can play with the best players in the world."
Hedblom, who has rocketed up to 40th on the Order of Merit after two great weeks – he earned £233,330 for this win – holed two crucial clutch putts on the last two holes but reckoned it was his approach to the seventh hole that had sparked his run to the title after Erlandsson had set the clubhouse target of 12-under.
"I almost holed out with a 6-iron and then picked up birdies at the next three holes as well – that got the momentum going for me," he reflected.
Erlandsson's round included a devastating burst of seven successive birdies – one short of the European Tour record – and the man from Malmo revealed afterwards that he come up with an unusual way of trying to stay calm during that run.
"I had some mental things to think about and started to look at my thumb and wonder how it looked," he said. "If you think about a pink elephant, you just think about a pink elephant."
Hedblom said: "That was so tough. What a round Martin played – I couldn't believe it and he should have won. I just had to plug on. I hit a great shot into 16, but making two pars was even harder."
He added: "I want to play in the big tournaments, but I keep taking one step back. Hopefully this is two steps forward."
***The full article above appears in The Scotsman newspaper today.