Lawrie encouraged by recent form

28 July 2015 04:16

Host Paul Lawrie will face Frenchman Romain Wattel in the first round of the match play tournament which bears the Scot's name.

The 1999 Open champion tees off on Thursday lunchtime against an opponent 186 places above him in the world rankings in the inaugural Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play at Murcar Links in Aberdeen.

Lawrie has played himself into some form this month with a share of 40th at the 144th Open - where he opened up with a round of 66 - following on from joint 17th at the Scottish Open the previous week.

"The last few weeks have been very encouraging, and I'm still keeping myself active and performing well in tournaments," the 46-year-old world number 319 told europeantour.com.

"I'm hoping some of my best golf might still be ahead of me, and show that I can still compete out here on the tour.

"My form is one of many reasons why I'm very excited about the week.

"It's fantastic to be bringing another European Tour event to my home town of Aberdeen, after the Scottish Open was held at Royal Aberdeen last year."

One of the big draws of this week's event is two-time major winner John Daly, who missed the cut at the Open, one of four missed cuts in six European Tour events this year by the American.

He faces Spaniard Jorge Campillo, whose best finish this season is joint 15th at the Open de France this month.

Top-ranked Scot Marc Warren goes off in the afternoon against Richard Bland with Sheffield youngster Matthew Fitzpatrick facing 42-year-old Welshman Bradley Dredge.

Among the other ties France's Gregory Bourdy takes on 2012 Ryder Cup winner Nicolas Colsaerts.

The format will see 64 players battle it out in straight knockout over four days, with two rounds on both Saturday and Sunday.

Source: PA