Paul Lawrie pulls in a fiery start in the opening round of Masters on Thursday
It is not just the former world number one Tiger Woods whose career is on the rise at the moment, Scotsman Paul Lawrie is again on fire of what can be regarded as the twilight of his career.
The 43-year-old Lawrie pulled in no fewer than two eagles at one of the toughest courses on earth at the Masters, on Thursday and finally settled for a joint fourth.
The 1999 Open Champion, whose career gradually slid into obscurity in the later years, is experiencing a rare resurgence in the sport, even when he has already crossed the threshold of 40 years of age.
He is now hoping to emulate the Fijian giant Vijay Singh, who won his major title after 40.
Lawrie started off his opening round on humble footings and remained even-par all through the front nine, until he dropped his first shot of the day at par-five, 8th.
He made the turn to a completely different back nine, something which was expected from Lawrie given his recent outstanding performances.
He pulled in an eagle at par-five, 13th and went over to card another at par-five, 15th to rattle the leaderboard later in the day.
His sudden rise sent a shiver down the spine of the top-ranked players in the field. Sadly though, Lawrie was not able to hold the lead for long.
Carding another birdie on 17th, the Scotsman dropped a shot at the closing hole to fall out of contention.
He settled for a joint fourth alongside Ben Crane, Jason Dufner, Bubba Watson, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Francesco Molinari.
Lawrie said, “Driving the ball was something I never looked forward too. It’s improved immensely, which is nice. There’s four or five things that I’m doing a little better. I’m holing my fair share of putts. Which always helps”.
The Scot returned to limelight with his rare victory at Open de Andalucía de Golf in 2011, an event he won after his last victory at Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open in 2002.
The victory provided the launching pad for Lawrie to attempt a comeback in his childhood passion.
He won his seventh European Tour title, the Commercialbank Qatar Masters, in February this year to carry on with his resurgence in form.
The veteran does not have an impressive record in the Masters at Augusta National and his highest finish dates back to 2003 when he finished for a joint 15th.
Tags: