LAWRIE AND LAIRD TO PLAY AT CASTLE STUART LINKS IN JULY

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE EUROPEAN TOURScotland celebrated a unique transatlantic golfing ‘double’ on Sunday when Martin Laird followed Paul Lawrie into the winner’s enclosure – and now both new champions have their sights set on adding to their title haul in the Barclays Scottish Open.
Aberdonian Lawrie, pictured by courtesy of Getty Images (c), who won The European Tour’s Open de Andalucia de Golf by Turkish Airlines in Spain hours before Glaswegian Laird prevailed in the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the US PGA Tour, have both confirmed their participation at Castle Stuart Golf Links near Inverness from July 7-10.
And their presence at the highly acclaimed new links of Castle Stuart for the Barclays Scottish Open will afford the Highland golfing public an opportunity to watch one of Scotland’s most successful established stars alongside one of the brightest emerging talents.
It was the first time that two Scots have triumphed in the same week on any Tour. Lawrie, the 1999 Open Champion, collected his sixth European Tour title while Laird collected his second success on the US PGA Tour.
The nearest Scotland has come to pulling off such an unusual feat was in 1987, when Sandy Lyle won the German Masters seven days after Ken Brown was victorious in the Southern Open in America.
Both Lawrie and Laird are thrilled to be playing a classic links course in the week before The Open at Royal St George’s, especially 42 year old Lawrie who finished tied sixth at the Sandwich venue in 1993, six years before his career-defining moment at Carnoustie when he claimed the Claret Jug after a play-off.
He said: “It was certainly a great weekend for Scottish golf and I hope what Martin and I achieved will inspire a few other Scots to do the same. There has been a lot of comment about Scotland’s lack of success in recent times but it wasn’t from lack of effort! The European Tour, in my view, is the strongest in the world at the moment. Winning is never easy and especially right now with the high quality of players on the Tour.”
Lawrie is looking forward to meeting up with his fellow Scot, Laird, who he first encountered some years ago. He added: “It will be great to see Martin at the Barclays Scottish Open at Castle Stuart. I remember meeting him while my coach, Adam Hunter, was in charge of the Scottish amateur squad. He was a nice lad and a good player. I was impressed with him then and I was impressed with what he did on Sunday.
“It will be good to play Castle Stuart for the first time when I head up there next month after hearing so many good reports about it. This is a huge deal for the Moray Firth area, having the Barclays Scottish Open on their doorstep, not just in economic terms but for the juniors and schools in the area to see this level of golf close up.”
Laird, who finished tenth in the Barclays Scottish Open in 2009 and tied 26th last year, is delighted to be returning to his homeland for the third successive year. And for the crowds arriving at the spectacular Moray Firth venue, it will be a rare opportunity to see the highest ranked Scot in the world golf.
The 28 year old, who moved within one place of a coveted spot in the top 20 on the Official World Golf Ranking on the strength of his win in Florida, commented: “I am looking forward to getting back to my homeland to play the Barclays Scottish Open in July. In a pre-round interview on Sunday, I was told that Paul Lawrie had won in Andalucia, so it was extra special to be able to play my part in such a great day for Scottish golf. Congratulations to Paul!
“I was extremely excited about my win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It doesn't get much better than walking off of the 18th green to shake hands with Mr Palmer and to receive the trophy from him. I am pleased to be the first European ever to win at Bay Hill, which is an incredibly strong golf course, and against such a great field. It gives me even more confidence going in to The Masters next week.”
Already participating in the 2011 Barclays Scottish Open are three-time Major Champion Padraig Harrington, reigning Masters Champion Phil Mickelson, 2010 US Open Champion Graeme McDowell and last year’s winner, Edoardo Molinari, with more leading names to be confirmed shortly.
Ticket information
The Barclays Scottish Open Championship in 2011 will boast one of the strongest fields on The European Tour International Schedule, with many of the world’s best players in action pursuing a prize fund of £3 million. All four days will be broadcast live on both BBC Television (July 9 and 10) and Sky Sports (July 7 and 8) with extensive highlights on both channels.
Advance tickets are now on sale for the 2011 Barclays Scottish Open with significant reductions available on tickets purchased by Sunday, April 10 – the final day of the Masters Tournament in the United States.
For full details of these ticket offers and other events on The European Tour, please visit www.europeantourtickets.com or telephone the Ticket Hotline: +44 (0) 800 023 2557; fax +44 141 887 0223. Please send postal enquiries to European Tour Tickets, Mirren Court Three, 123 Renfrew Court Three, Paisley, PA3 4EA.