FIRST PAUL LAWRIE, THEN MARTIN LAIRD - A GREAT SCOTS DOUBLE

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
When did two Scots last win on either side of the Atlantic on the same day in the European Tour and US PGA Tour? Answer: Never ... until today!
Martin Laird completed the second leg of a tremendous double whammy for Scottish golf when he followed up Paul Lawrie's victory earlier today in the Andalucia Open by winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club, Florida.
He is the first European to win the prestigious tournament.
Laird, under a burning Florida sun which raised the temperature into the 90s, had a sweaty, nerve-racking final round of three-over-par 75 for an eight-under-par total of 280. His cash prize was $1,080,000.
The Scot was perhaps fortunate that the leading overnight challengers struggled even more than he did on the final round.
Spencer Levin, the first-round leader, had a 76 for 286.
Bubba Watson had a 78 for 287.
Rickie Fowler also ran up a 78 for 288.
Laird's start was a bit like Paul Lawrie's in Spain. The Glasgow man bogeyed the third, short seventh and ninth to be out in three-over 39. Hardly the form of a man bidding to win his second title on the US PGA Tour.
Worse was to come for Martin. He ran up a double bogey 6 at the 11th and at that point had slumped to five over par for the round.
The difference between Laird and his rivals from there in was that he was able to claw his way out of the hole into which he had dug himself. Martin birdied the long 12th, bogeyed the short 14th but raised his game when he needed it most to birdie the 15th and the long 16th.
Then he held his nerve admirably over the last two holes with so much at stake.
A par at the 17th left him needing a par 4 at the treacherous 18th where the green is guarded by a water hazard.
Laird had his usual big, 300+ yards drive ... but into rough. He made it to the "L" shaped green only just far enough up past the adjacent water to be able to putt across the green directly at the hole.
He had to get down in two putts from 87ft - and he did. Laird rolled the first putt up to within 3ft 7in of the hole - and bravely knocked the next one in for a par 4 and a round of 75.
American Steve Marino had set the clubhouse target with a 72 for 281.
England's Justin Rose came with late rush - home in five-under 31 - for a 68 to tie for third place with Aussie Marc Leishman (71) and American Dave Toms (72).
Rose had an eagle at the long 12th and birdied the 15th, long 16th and 18h
Sergio Garcia finished with a 70 for 284 an a creditable eighth place.
Tiger Woods, closing with a par 72, tied for 24th place on 287 with Phil Mickelson (73) and Bubbw Watson.
Ernie Els, the defending champion, had a nightmare tournament. He made the cut but his lowest score was his second-round 72. He finished with a 78 for 298, 10 shots over par and a share of 70th place.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
Players from US unless stated
280 Martin Laird (Scotland) 70 65 70 75.
281 Steve Marino 71 67 71 72.
282 Justin Rose (England) 72 72 70 68, Marc Leishman (Australia) 73 72 66 71, David Toms 74 67 69 72.
283 K J Choi (S Korea) 72 64 76 71, Spencer Levin 66 70 71 76.
284 Sergio Garcia (Spain) 73 69 73 70.
Selected totals:
285 Jim Furyk 74 69 71 71 (T9).
286 Edoardo Molinari (Italy) 72 75 72 67, Ian Poulter (England) 71 71 73 71, Brian Davis (England) 70 72 71 73 (T12).
287 Tiger Woods 73 68 74 72, Phil Mickelson 70 75 69 73, Bubba Watson 70 71 68 78 (T24).
288 Rickie Fowler 69 71 70 768 (T30).
298 Ernie Els (S Africa) 75 72 73 78 (T70).

ANGUS BEAT FIFE 5-3, P AND K DRAW WITH CLACKMANNAN

Angus got their Provan Salver men's golf campaign off to a winning start with a 5-3 victory over Fife at Montrose Links. The experience of Gary Tough gave Angus a flying start with a 5 and 4 victory over Gary Sharp in the lead-off tie in the eight singles programme.
Arbroath youngster Steven Cargill was drafted in as a last minute replacement and he responded with a fine 3 and 2 win over Scott Stewart-Cation, winner of the South-east District Open championship near the end of last season.
Provan Salver holders Clackmannan were probably quite happy to play Perth and Kinross on the road and come home with a 4-4 draw, although the Wee County were leading 4-3 with one match to finish.
In it Scott Michie (Kinross) bt Scott Hunter (Tuliallan) 3 and 2 to level matters.
Today's results:


ANGUS 5, FIFE 3
at Montrose Links
Angus players first
G Tough bt G Sharp 5 and 4. R Coull bt C Martin 1 hole. W Bremner halved with P Latimer. M Brown lost to A Hain 1 hole.
R Bell lost to K Blyth 3 and 2. K Harper halved with S Crighton. S Smith bt G Page 5 and 4. S Cargill bt S Stewart-Cation 3 and 2.

PERTH AND KINROSS 4, CLACKMANNAN 4
at Strathmore Golf Centre
P and K players first
Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) bt Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 3 and 2.
Tom McLevy (Blairgowrie) bt Darren Hulston (Dollar) 5 and 4.
Liam Barn (Craigie Hill) lost to Scott Moffat (Braehead) 3 and 2.
George Brass (Blairgowrie) lost to Steven McIvor (Alva) 1 hole.
Alan Easton (Strathmore) bt Michael Robertson (Alva) 6 and 4.
Thomas White (Milnathort) lost to John Maxwell (Tulliallan) 4 and 2.
Connor Neil (Blairgowrie) lost to Paul Guthrie (Alloa) 3 and 2.
Scott Michie (Kinross) bt Scott Hunter (Tulliallan) 3 and 2.

NEXT SUNDAY'S TIES
Clackmannan v Angus at Dollar.
Fife v Perth and Kinross

GREAT SCOTT WINS SGU JUNIOR TOUR OPENER BY FOUR SHOTS

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

If Ewan Scott from St Andrews can keep the momentum he has established through the winter and spring for another two weeks, he is the one they will all have to beat in the Scottish boys' match-play championship at Dunbar from April 11 to 16.

Scott, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, underlined his prospects by winning the SGU Junior Tour Event No 1 by four strokes over the Arbroath links today.

He had a five-shot lead after sub-par rounds of 68 and 67 but as the conditions became a little stiffer in the afternoon a three-over 73 for a total of two-under 208 saw him home by a comfortable margin from two leading candidates for the Scottish Under-18s title - defending champion Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) and Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie).
Neil had a double bogey 6 in the first round while Forrest had two over the first 36 holes and they never mounted a challenge to Scott who won twice on the Scottish Golf Academy's winter circuit, winning the Under-16s' Order of Merit award.
Scott has maintained the promise he showed a couple of years ago when he became the first Scot to win the English Under-14 boys' open title.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 210 (3x70). CSS 70 70 70
208 Ewan Scott (St Andrews) 68 67 73.
212 Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie) 71 70 71, Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) 71 70 71.
213 Liam Johnston (Dumfries and Co) 72 68 73, Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) 71 72 70, Cameron Farrell (Cardross) 69 72 72, Greig Marchbank (Dumfries and Co) 69 71 73.
214 Alasdair McDougall (Elderslie) 69 71 74.
215 Craig Howie (Peebles) 70 72 73, Fraser Thain (West Linton) 70 75 70.
216 Jamie Savage (Cawder) 73 77 66, Lee Morgan (Newbattle) 72 73 71.
217 Craig Ross (Kirkhill) 74 73 70.
218 Euan Bowden (The Glen) 75 73 80, Euan Walker (Kilmarnock Barassie) 74 74 70, Josh Jamieson (St Andrews New) 73 72 73..
219 Freddie Brown (Nairn Dunbar) 74 72 73, Louis Gaughan (Bathgate) 74 72 73, Anthony Blaney (Liberton) 73 75 71..
221 James Steven (Bothwell Castle) 77 75 69.
223 Ben Kinsley (St Andrews) 73 71 79
224 Lawrence Allan (Alva) 77 72 75, Daniel Flannery (Peebles) 75 72 77.
225 Ewen Ferguson (Bearsden) 77 72 76, Ewen Donaldson (Craigielaw) 75 74 76.

226 Bob McIntyre (Glencruitten) 77 74 75.

227 Ross Proctor (Forres) 76 76 73.

231 Ben Craggs (Glenbervie) 79 75 77.

234 Alasdair McDougall (St Andrews) 81 76 77.

239 Calum Stewart (Brora) 82 81 76.

TO CHECK THE SCORECARDS ON THE SGU WEBSITE

CLICK HERE

PAUL LAWRIE SHOWS TRUE GRIT TO WIN ANDALUCIA OPEN

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

Paul Lawrie today achieved his first European Tour win since 2002 - the first leg of what he hoped would be a notable double for Scottish golf.

The 42-year-old former Open champion (1999, at Carnoustie) from Aberdeen took the Open de Andalucía de Golf by Turkish Airlines in Malaga and the 166,660 Euros first prize by one from Swede Johan Edfors just as compatriot Martin Laird prepared to tee off again with a two-stroke lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, Florida.

With six runners-up finishes since his last victory, Lawrie must have feared it was going to be another near-miss when, from one ahead overnight, he bogeyed the first two holes and England's Mark Foster birdied them.

But, in a repeat of what happened at last year's Open de España, Foster could not hold onto a three-shot lead.
Lawrie, after dropping another stroke at the fifth, showed true grit in hanging on in their and then turning things round by starting the back nine with four birdies in five holes.

And the six-time European Tour winner – his fifth title came 232 events ago - could even afford a closing bogey to win with a level par 70 and 12 under total of 268.

"It's been a long time - 2002 seems a hell of a time ago," he said. "I've had a few second places in there, but all of a sudden we're there again.

"It was going pear-shaped a little bit, but you've just got to keep going - that's all you can do.

"I played lovely and the putter behaved better. I got on a nice run at the right time.
“I started hitting beautiful shots on the back nine. I birdied ten, 11 and 12, and then did a great up and down on 14 for birdie just at the right moment.
“I must say that I felt under control even when I was above par at the start, and when you get into that attitude good things happen.
“I’ve always been a good putter, but these last years I couldn’t get it into the hole. This week they went in.”
Edfors was left to rue a three-putt bogey on the 15th after he had drawn level three times, but with a 68 he pushed Chilean Felipe Aguilar into third spot.
Foster, who like Lawrie was chasing his first victory in more than 200 European Tour starts going back in his case to 2003, slipped back into a tie for fourth.
Meanwhile, Kenneth Ferrie, who equalled The European Tour record with his 60 in the third round, crashed back to earth with a bump as a 75 sent him tumbling down to joint 11th.
It was not a finish Spaniard Jose Manuel Lara will want to think about for too long either.
Tied for third with a hole to go and still in with a chance if Lawrie made a mess of the difficult 18th, he went out of bounds with his approach and ran up a triple-bogey 7.

A 14 footer at the tenth was the turning point for Lawrie. He followed it with a 25ft putt and chipped close on both the 12th and 14th, the two par-5s on the Parador course.

To his immense relief it did not matter that he missed from under three feet in between those last two birdies or that he failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker at the last to save par.
Scott Jamieson from Glasgow, the only other Scot to make the cut, did well to finish joint 11th on 279 with a closing round of 68. Jamieson earned 15,614 Euros.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70)
268 Paul Lawrie (Scotland) 66 67 65 70 (166,660 Euros).
269 Johan Edfors (Sweden) 65 71 65 68 (111,110 Euros).
270 Felipe Aguilar (Chile) 67 69 66 68 (62,600 Euros).
271 Jeppe Huldahl (Norway) 66 66 72 67, Raphael Jacquelin (France) 68 69 75 69, Mark Foster (England) 67 67 65 72 (42,467 Euros each).

Selected score:
274 Scott Jamieson (Scotland) 69 70 67 78 (T11) (15,614 Euros).


TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS, CHECK THE SCORECARDS ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

CLICK HERE

EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP SCOTS THERE TO CHEER ON PAUL LAWRIE

It's going to be a big day as Paul Lawrie and Martin Laird bid to pull of a gigantic double whammy for Scotland today.
Paul leads into the final round of the Andalucia Open at Malaga on Spain's Costa del Sol, and Martin, on the other side of the Atlantic, leads the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida with Sunday's final round to come.
Paul Lawrie will not lack vocal support at Malaga. The SGU squad flew out to Spain this morning to compete in the European Nations Cup (formerly the Sherry Cup), which tees off at Sotogrande on Wednesday,  but they have been given permission to head for the Andalucia Open venue as soon as they touch down at Malaga.
The Scotland squad is: Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck), Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh), Ross Kellett (Colville Park) and Philip McLean (Peterhead).
The Best of Scottish Luck to both Paul and Martin.