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Paul Lawrie

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Paul Lawrie
OBE
Personal information
Full namePaul Stewart Lawrie
NicknameChippy[1]
Born (1969-01-01) 1 January 1969 (age 55)
Aberdeen, Scotland
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight196 lb (89 kg; 14.0 st)
Sporting nationality Scotland
ResidenceAberdeen, Scotland
SpouseMarian Giles
Children2
Career
Turned professional1986
Current tour(s)European Senior Tour
Former tour(s)European Tour
PGA Tour
Professional wins19
Highest ranking26 (21 October 2012)[2]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
European Tour8
Sunshine Tour1
European Senior Tour3
Other7
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters TournamentT15: 2003
PGA ChampionshipT34: 1999
U.S. OpenT30: 2002
The Open ChampionshipWon: 1999
Achievements and awards
European Senior Tour
Rookie of the Year		2019

Paul Stewart Lawrie OBE (born 1 January 1969) is a Scottish professional golfer who is best known for winning The Open Championship in 1999. He was a vice-captain for the European Ryder Cup team in 2016.

Lawrie at the Scottish Hydro Challenge

Early career

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Lawrie was born in Aberdeen and turned professional in 1986. in 1990 he won the Scottish Assistants' Championship at Cruden Bay by five strokes and the Scottish Under-25 Championship at Deer Park by seven strokes.[3][4] In 1991 he won the Daily Express Scottish National Pro-am at Carnoustie by a stroke from Craig Maltman.[5] He became a member of the European Tour in 1992. He performed steadily without doing much to draw attention to himself, aside from a 6th-place finish in the 1993 Open Championship. In his first seven seasons his only top 50 finish on the Order of Merit came in 1996 when he was 21st. However he also finished in the top 100 in all but one of the other six seasons, and picked up a debut tour win at the 1996 Catalan Open.

1999 onwards

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Lawrie's career was transformed in 1999. After winning the Qatar Masters (a European Tour event) early in the season, he went on to win the 1999 Open Championship at Carnoustie in July.[6] This was the Open where the Frenchman Jean van de Velde blew a three-shot lead on the final hole. Lawrie won a four-hole playoff against Van de Velde and American Justin Leonard. An unusual aspect of Lawrie's victory was that he was neither leader nor co-leader at any time during his regulation 72 holes, only moving into a share of the lead when the leaders came back to him after he had completed his final round. Also, Lawrie came back from the largest third-round deficit ever faced by a major championship winner - going into the final day, he trailed the leader, Van de Velde, by 10 shots. This is also the record for the biggest final-round comeback on the PGA Tour.[7]

After his major championship victory, Lawrie's game shifted to a higher level without quite moving him into the global elite group of golfers. He finished 9th on the European Tour Order of Merit in 1999; 6th in 2001, when he captured the lucrative Dunhill Links Championship; and 10th in 2002, when he won his fifth European Tour title at the Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open.

In March 2001, the Paul Lawrie Foundation was created. The Foundation aims to support and sustain an interest and enthusiasm for the game of golf amongst under 18s. Activities are delivered in a fun and relaxed setting with equipment provided if necessary. The Foundation has grown rapidly and now includes football and hockey.[6][8] In 2011, a 54-hole tournament, the Paul Lawrie Invitational was added to the Tartan Tour.

After winning the Open, Lawrie was a member of the PGA Tour for several seasons, while also continuing to compete on the European Tour. He enjoyed little success in the U.S. and when his five-year major championship exemption expired at the end of the 2004 season, he lost his PGA Tour card.

Lawrie comes out from the rough at the Scottish Hydro Challenge

Lawrie was the last European player to win a major until 2007, when that drought was ended by Pádraig Harrington of Ireland in The Open Championship. He was the last player from the United Kingdom to win a major until Graeme McDowell won the 2010 U.S. Open. Lawrie is still the last player from Scotland to win a major.

At the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry, Lawrie scored what is believed to be only the eighth albatross (double eagle) in the competition's 150-year history by holing his second shot at the par 5 seventh hole in the final round.[9]

On 27 March 2011, Lawrie won the Open de Andalucía de Golf by one stroke over Johan Edfors. Lawrie finished the championship at −12 and in doing so ended a nine-year period without a tour win.[10]

In February 2012, Lawrie won the Commercialbank Qatar Masters for the second time in his career, having previously won in 1999. Lawrie became only the second player to have won the tournament more than once alongside Adam Scott. It was Lawrie's seventh win on the European Tour. The tournament was reduced to 54 holes after strong winds hampered the play during rounds one and two. He won by four strokes over Jason Day and Peter Hanson after a final round of 65.

Lawrie skipped the 2012 U.S. Open in an attempt to qualify for the 2012 Ryder Cup. He secured qualification with victory at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in August. He has stated that he would accept the captain's role for the 2014 Ryder Cup if offered.[11] Lawrie helped Team Europe retain the Ryder Cup at Medinah.[12] He finished the season in the top 10 of the Order of Merit for the first time in ten years.

Lawrie was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2000 and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for voluntary service to golf.[13][14]

On 1 October 2020, Lawrie announced that he would be retiring from the European Tour following his 620th career event at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open due to back problems and would instead compete on the European Senior Tour moving forward.[15]

Non-playing work

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Lawrie is passionate about junior golf and his Paul Lawrie Foundation has taught thousands of youngsters. In 2012 he bought Aspire Golf Centre in Aberdeen (now called the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre). Partly due to this, he was named by the Golf Club Managers' Association's Golf Club Management magazine as the 37th most powerful person in British golf. Lawrie is a fan of Aberdeen FC.[16]

Lawrie was a columnist for bunkered golf magazine between 1999 and 2004.

Lawrie has his own golf brand, called Cardinal Golf.[17]

In 2020, Lawrie founded the Tartan Pro Tour, a third-tier UK-based golf tour and feeder to the Challenge Tour that achieved OWGR status in May 2024. The Tartan Pro Tour was created to give players opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic and to eventually replace the shuttered PGA EuroPro Tour in 2022.

Family

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Lawrie's son Craig is also a professional golfer.[18]

Professional wins (19)

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PGA Tour wins (1)

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Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (0)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runners-up
1 18 Jul 1999 The Open Championship +6 (73-74-76-67=290) Playoff United States Justin Leonard, France Jean van de Velde

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 1999 The Open Championship United States Justin Leonard, France Jean van de Velde Won four-hole aggregate playoff;
Lawrie: E (5-4-3-3=15),
Leonard: +3 (5-4-4-5=18),
van de Velde: +3 (6-4-3-5=18)

European Tour wins (8)

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Legend
Major championships (1)
Other European Tour (7)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 3 Mar 1996 Catalan Open −9 (65-70=135)* 1 stroke Spain Fernando Roca
2 20 Feb 1999 Qatar Masters −20 (68-65-67-68=268) 7 strokes Denmark Søren Kjeldsen, Wales Phillip Price
3 18 Jul 1999 The Open Championship +6 (73-74-76-67=290) Playoff United States Justin Leonard, France Jean van de Velde
4 21 Oct 2001 Dunhill Links Championship −18 (71-68-63-68=270) 1 stroke South Africa Ernie Els
5 11 Aug 2002 Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open −16 (67-65-70-70=272) 5 strokes England John Bickerton
6 27 Mar 2011 Open de Andalucía de Golf −12 (66-67-65-70=268) 1 stroke Sweden Johan Edfors
7 5 Feb 2012 Commercialbank Qatar Masters (2) −15 (69-67-65=201)* 4 strokes Australia Jason Day, Sweden Peter Hanson
8 26 Aug 2012 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles −16 (68-69-67-68=272) 4 strokes Australia Brett Rumford

*Note: Tournament shortened to 36/54 holes due to weather.

European Tour playoff record (1–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 1999 The Open Championship United States Justin Leonard, France Jean van de Velde Won four-hole aggregate playoff;
Lawrie: E (5-4-3-3=15),
Leonard: +3 (5-4-4-5=18),
van de Velde: +3 (6-4-3-5=18)
2 2001 Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open England Daren Lee, Republic of Ireland Paul McGinley McGinley won with par on fifth extra hole
Lawrie eliminated by par on second hole
3 2003 Dunhill Championship England Mark Foster, Denmark Anders Hansen,
South Africa Trevor Immelman, Scotland Doug McGuigan,
South Africa Bradford Vaughan 		Foster won with eagle on second extra hole
Hansen and McGuigan eliminated by birdie on first hole

Sunshine Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runners-up
1 19 Feb 2017 Dimension Data Pro-Am −15 (69-69-69-67=274) 1 stroke United States Justin Hicks, England Chris Lloyd,
South Africa Chris Swanepoel

Sunshine Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2003 Dunhill Championship England Mark Foster, Denmark Anders Hansen,
South Africa Trevor Immelman, Scotland Doug McGuigan,
South Africa Bradford Vaughan 		Foster won with eagle on second extra hole
Hansen and McGuigan eliminated by birdie on first hole

Other wins (7)

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European Senior Tour wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 18 Aug 2019 Scottish Senior Open −2 (68-72-71=211) 2 strokes England Peter Baker, Australia Peter Fowler
2 19 Jun 2022 Farmfoods European Legends Links Championship −11 (64-71-70=205) 3 strokes Scotland Euan McIntosh
3 16 Oct 2022 Farmfoods European Senior Masters −17 (71-66-65=202) Playoff Sweden Michael Jonzon

European Senior Tour playoff record (1–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2022 Jersey Legends Australia Richard Green Lost to par on third extra hole
2 2022 Farmfoods European Senior Masters Sweden Michael Jonzon Won with birdie on first extra hole

Major championships

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Wins (1)

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Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runners-up
1999 The Open Championship 10 shot deficit +6 (73-74-76-67=290) Playoff1 United States Justin Leonard, France Jean van de Velde

1Defeated Leonard and van de Velde in 4-hole playoff: Lawrie (5-4-3-3=15), Leonard (5-4-4-5=18), van de Velde (6-4-3-5=18).

Results timeline

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Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship T22 T6 T24 T58 CUT CUT 1
PGA Championship T34
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament CUT CUT CUT T15 T37
U.S. Open CUT T30 CUT CUT
The Open Championship CUT T42 T59 CUT CUT T52 CUT CUT CUT T47
PGA Championship T72 CUT CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament T24 T38
U.S. Open T32
The Open Championship CUT T66 T34 T26 CUT T40 T63 CUT
PGA Championship T48 CUT
Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUT NT CUT
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 4
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 3
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2
The Open Championship 1 0 0 1 2 4 27 14
Totals 1 0 0 1 2 6 45 23
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (2011 Open Championship – 2013 Open Championship)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
The Players Championship T73 CUT CUT T56 CUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

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Results not in chronological order before 2015.

Tournament 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Championship T37 NT1 T54 T60 T58
Match Play QF R32 R64 R64 R16 R64
Invitational T21 T65 T50 T27 T60
Champions T49 T36

1Cancelled due to 9/11

  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Lawrie looks to show his mettle at Medinah". Ryder Cup. 22 September 2012.
  2. ^ "Week 42 2012 Ending 21 Oct 2012" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Banchory's Paul Lawrie". Daily Record (Scotland). 21 April 1990. p. 36 – via Newspaper.com.
  4. ^ "Paul Lawrie". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 10 September 1990. p. 18 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Lawrie wins cliff-hanger". Daily Record (Scotland). 14 September 1991. p. 43 – via Newspaper.com.
  6. ^ a b "The Foundation". The Paul Lawrie Foundation. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  7. ^ Kelley, Brent. "Largest Final-Round Comeback on PGA Tour". About.com. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  8. ^ "Paul Lawrie". The Paul Lawrie Foundation. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  9. ^ "Paul Lawrie sinks Turnberry albatross to join select Open club". The Guardian. 19 July 2009.
  10. ^ "Lawrie finally a winner again". Sky Sports. 28 March 2011.
  11. ^ "Paul Lawrie: Former Open winner would accept Ryder Cup captaincy". 13 June 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  12. ^ "Europe seal Ryder Cup win with comeback of epic proportions". The Guardian. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  13. ^ "No. 60534". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 2013. p. 11.
  14. ^ "Paul Lawrie receives OBE". 14 June 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  15. ^ "Paul Lawrie to quit European Tour after this week's Scottish Open". ESPN. Associated Press. 1 October 2020.
  16. ^ The Golf Power List 40-31 Golf Club Management, June 2012
  17. ^ McEwan, Michael (3 August 2016). "Cardinal Golf: Paul Lawrie's new venture". bunkered.
  18. ^ "Paul Lawrie's son, Craig, becomes golf professional". 29 October 2013.
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