Paul Lawrie, the former Open champion, was upstaged in the first round of the Scottish Hydro Challenge yesterday at the Spey Valley course by countryman Andrew McArthur after falling foul of wind and rain.
Lawrie had to conjure up three birdies over the closing six holes to rescue a round of 71 after McArthur, from Lanark, had set the early pace with a four-under par 67 after swapping his conventional putter for a ‘big stick’.
The 30 year old revealed: “I’ve gone to the long putter. Although it’s a belly putter
I keep it pressed against my left forearm. I have always broken down the left wrist and keeping the pressure on my arm all the time helps.”
McArthur, a former Scottish amateur champion, also credited his coach Ian Rae for putting feeling back in his swing, adding: “I had a lesson yesterday with Ian and within five minutes my swing felt great again.
“We worked a bit on my knock-down shots because the course is very firm and bouncy and you are just nudging the ball down the fairways of a lot of the tees because it’s running so much.
“I have been trying to stay patient and enjoy my golf more because I have not been playing great and when you are in that position your expectations drop.
“I am still in a decent enough position in the rankings and I’ll just keep plodding along this week and see what happens.
“But the money on offer is a lot more than the usual for a Challenge Tour event so a good finish would certainly help the cause.”
Lawrie, meanwhile, is confident of reasserting himself after claiming: “I played okay, even when I was three over after 12. I only hit if off-line twice and I was pleased overall. A 71 in these brutal conditions was a good score.”
Lawrie’s 14-year-old son Craig acted as his caddie and the youngster was praised for his effort. “He did really well,” said Lawrie. “He kept up, cleaned the ball and never made a mistake.”
Ross Cameron, a Challenge Tour debutant, finished in red after carding 70 to finish three off the lead and then thanked Lawrie for helping make his dream come true.
Cameron, from Ellon, explained: “I received an invitation to play this week through the Paul Lawrie aFoundation. I have been with the Foundation for a couple of years now and Paul has been very good to me. He gives us great support.
“I got into the Foundation through Neil Marr who I worked with for a while and who Paul has also worked with in the past. Paul took a look at me liked what he saw so decided to support me.
“Paul is a great lad to have at the end of the phone for advice, but I had better not finish ahead of him this week or the support might be cut.”
The Frenchman Julien Guerrier matched McArthur’s effort to share the lead along with the Englishman Robert Coles, but claimed that he should have been at least three shots better.
The 24-year-old from La Rochelle, where he learned to play in the wind sweeping in from the Atlantic, was left cursing his luck after lipping out three times in the last four holes.
He said: “My round could have been a lot better. They were all makeable putts from around 10 feet each time, but I can’t feel too disappointed with my score. What is a difficult test was made even harder by the constantly changing weather conditions of wind, rain and sun, but it is one of the best courses we play on the Challenge Tour.”
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