SCROLL DOWN FOR PAUL LAWRIE'S VIEW

David Drysdale struggling to

get back in the groove

FROM THE SCOTSMAN.SPORT.COM WEBSITE
By Martin Dempster
David Drysdale, the top Scot in last year's Race to Dubai, has played with three different sets of irons in four weeks after the new groove regulation forced him to bin his trusty old ones.
"It's been a tough start to the year because of the major equipment changes," said Drysdale, one of six Scots in the field for this week's Avantha Masters in India.
"I'm now on my third set of irons in four weeks and the problem is purely the groove regulations change. I had irons I had used for five years and Callaway no longer manufacture them, so I was forced to change model.
"Clubs are the tools of your trade and last season I had a three-wood in the bag I had used for 10 years, a driver I had used for three and those irons, so I don't change my equipment very often. "So the changes have been tough and even now I am not 100 per cent happy. But there isn't much I can do about it until I get back and visit Callaway in London."
After missing the cut in his opening three events of the year, Drysdale felt a bit happier with his game when he finished just outside the top 30 in last week's Dubai Desert Classic.
"I am getting nearer the equipment I want to use," he added. "I also had my coach, David Downie, in Dubai and we worked on a couple of things. I would say I am getting there slowly.
"I have two weeks off after India after five weeks on the road. I am coming home for a week and then spending a week in Dubai for the (better] weather before heading for Malaysia."
Richie Ramsay, Peter Whiteford, Steven O'Hara, Andrew Coltart and Callum Macaulay are the other Scots chasing a £220,000 prize fund at the DLF Golf & Country Club in New Delhi, the latter having received a sponsor's invite.
+The full article above appears in The Scotsman newspaper.

... BUT PAUL LAWRIE HAS NOT BEEN AFFECTED

Former Open champion Paul Lawrie does not have the grooves problem being experienced by David Drysdale and many other pro golfers. The Aberdonian explained to www.scottishgolfview.com:

"It hasn't affected me at all. There are two reasons for that:
1 I played with this year's grooves last year in my irons.
2 I don't like to spin the ball with my wedges.
I used to use a wedge at home for months before using it in a tournament. I prefer to run the ball to the hole instead of spinning it."