The question is serious. What has the passing of 25 years done to the magical memory of winning golf’s biggest prize, the Open Championship? The answer from Paul Lawrie is not so serious. ‘It’s added an extra three stone and a head of grey hair,’ he replies.
The 55-year-old Aberdonian is making light of one of the great sporting comebacks. Never before in the history of the majors had anyone come back from a ten-shot deficit going into the final round. That play-off victory at Carnoustie on July 18, 1999 was truly remarkable.
‘Some things are quite fresh in the memory about what happened that day, that week,’ he recalls. ‘That’s whether or not you get into the debate about me getting enough credit for doing what I did.
‘I was proud of what I did and what my team did that day. Adam Hunter (coach), Paddy Byrne (caddy), Richard Cox, the psychologist I was using. We all had to do certain things right for it to go our way – and we all did. So how it was written and how it was said was up to them. We all know the job we did to get me over the line in a tournament of that size. It was phenomenal. I was so proud of all of us really.’
It was Lawrie’s Open but, for many, it will forever be remembered as the one that got away for Frenchman Jean van de Velde, who played the 72nd hole with a three-shot lead. He came to grief in Carnoustie’s Barry Burn and those television pictures of him, with his shoes and socks off, scrambling around in the water are enduring images. The tournament went to a four-hole playoff in the end with Van de Velde, Justin Leonard and Lawrie.
The Scot got his hands on the Claret Jug but, arguably, didn’t get the credit he deserved because of Van de Velde’s meltdown.
Paul Lawrie kisses the Claret Jug after his famous Carnoustie victory in 1999
Van de Velde’s meltdown at the Barry Burn opened the door for Lawrie to triumph
Aberdonian Lawrie is hugged by his caddy after the most dramatic of triumphs
He says: ‘Over the years I think I’ve softened quite a lot in terms of how people saw it because, when you look at the facts, he had a six to win, didn’t he? The facts are it’s a par four and you’ve got a six to win. Finishing off tournaments is a massive part of what we do. Winning is not easy. I proved that in Ireland a few weeks ago when I should have won and didn’t. So the way that it was reported is up to other people. I don’t have any bitterness towards that any more. It is what it is.’
Few would have given Lawrie any chance of being in the shake-up to win in 1999. After three rounds he was so far off the pace.
‘We teed off in 13th position but ten shots behind, which is unusual,’ he recalls. ‘Normally if you’re ten shots behind you’re miles behind the field. There was no thought about having an opportunity to win until we got to the 12th and the TV cameras appeared. You could tell there was a bit of a buzz about what was going on. You know the story, you don’t need a leaderboard to tell you. From the 12th it was happening and I kinda knew that straight away.’
Amazingly, the four under par 67 he produced in horrendous conditions to get into the play-off doesn’t go down as his best-ever round.
‘I was six under par for 15 holes when I beat (Brandt) Snedeker in the Ryder Cup at Medinah. I would say that’s the best round of ball-striking and results I’ve ever had,’ states Lawrie. ‘But that 67 at the Open in the final round, that’s got to be up there.
‘That golf course was so tough. The fairways were pretty narrow and, if you missed them, the rough was up to your knees. All you could do was chip it out. You couldn’t get on the green from anywhere if you didn’t find the fairway. So four under round there was nice.’
Then came a long wait to find out what was happening with the players still to finish. And those four holes which would change his life.
Lawrie continues: ‘I think when Adam and I first got to the players’ lounge, we were about four or five shots behind because Jean had just bogeyed a couple of holes. Then people started talking to us about the state of play so we went to the range to hit some balls.
‘Adam Hunter did an unbelievable job to get me focused. He was immense. He just did the right things to get my mind off what was happening and said the right things. And I was ready when the play-off came around. I was the only one of the three of us who was ready to win.
The scoreboard said it all after the Scot triumphed at Carnoustie in 1999
Lawrie on his way to winning the Open Championship 25 years ago
A kiss for the famous old trophy from a victorious Lawrie
‘When we were waiting on the putting green, Adam asked me to do one thing. He told me to have a good look at the other guys’ faces and I hadn’t a clue what he was on about. But when I got on the tee for the play-off I saw Justin Leonard and he looked as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and I thought he’s not feeling too hot about this. Then Van de Velde appeared and he’d lost his hat. He was joking with the crowd and I realised he was trying to hide some nerves. And straight away I said: “I’m going to win the Open”. Straight away. And it was that masterstroke of getting me to look at the two of them and study them a little bit. It filled me with so much confidence because both of them looked worse than I did. I felt pretty good, ready to go. It was amazing.’
With that famous victory, Lawrie joined a select band of golfers and his whole life was changed dramatically.
‘Immediately there wasn’t a tournament in the world that I couldn’t play in,’ he says. ‘Obviously there was financial security and it changed our lives completely. But the biggest change was that I could play wherever I wanted to. That’s a massive change for someone who’s gone from just playing on the European Tour and the odd major. All of a sudden there’s nowhere you can’t go and nothing you can’t play in.
Lawrie and Van de Velde are great friends, so it’s incredible to hear they’ve never spoken about that dramatic day at Carnoustie.
‘A couple of weeks after, we were playing in the same tournament, staying in the same hotel and had breakfast together,’ says Lawrie. ‘It was the first time I’d seen him since Carnoustie but there was no mention of it. If he wasn’t going to bring it up there was no way I could, so we just chatted about other stuff. Him and I get on great but there’s never been a conversation about that Open.’
Lawrie has turned down the chance of playing in this week’s Open at Royal Troon, a quarter of a century on from his historic win, and says it wasn’t a difficult decision. He will prioritise the Senior Open next week, which, ironically enough, is back at Carnoustie, and the Seniors PGA the following week, which is played at the Trump International course just outside Aberdeen.
He explains: ‘I’m 55. Physically I’ve got a few problems with my back and my fee – as you can tell I’ve not missed a meal for quite a while – so I thought I couldn’t do three weeks in a row at that level. I’ve got more chance of winning at the Seniors Open, and the PGA the week after, than I have in the Open at Troon and I’ve always said that I’d never play a tournament that I didn’t think I had a chance of winning.
‘A good week for me at the Open is making it to the weekend. You’re taking a space, you need to let young guys play instead who might have a chance to win. The next two events, if I play well, I feel as if I can win both of them. The thinking was I’ve got more chance of winning if I don’t play at Troon.
‘In the 150th Open at St Andrews, I didn’t think I was playing in it because I had a realistic chance of winning. I was playing in it because I was allowed to play in it and I don’t want to feel that ever again. I may well play another Open before I get to 60 but my game will have to be in really good shape and I’ll have to be in good shape. I don’t want to play, like a lot of the guys do, just for the sake of playing.’
If he can win this time around at Carnoustie it would be another very special moment and he would be up there with some greats of the game.
Lawrie, shown playing in Ireland recently, has turned down his place at Royal Troon this week
The 55-year-old Scot doesn’t want to take the place of a younger player at The Open
‘There’s only four people who’ve ever won both,’ says Lawrie. ‘Tom Watson, Gary Player, Bob Charles and Darren Clarke. So that would be some achievement.’
Lawrie plays very little serious golf these days. He’s got too many other things going on with his golf centre and other interests.
‘I still hit balls, I love practising. I play nine holes, maybe three or four times a week, but I don’t play much competitive golf. I think I’m playing seven events this year. My wife Marian and I have got a lot of other stuff on the go and, if it’s your company, your thing, you can’t just pass it on to someone else. You’ve got to be proud of your name being above the door.
‘I’m very hands-on which means I don’t have much time to play competitive golf. When you’ve played for 30 years and 600-odd events, I just don’t want to do all that travelling stuff any more. It’s a nightmare.
‘We have the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, the Five Star Sports Agency where we manage ten golfers and five or six events, we run the Tartan Pro Tour, we’ve got a beer which carries my nickname, Chippie. So it’s busy, it’s full-on, but I don’t like sitting about and we’ve certainly got enough on our plate at the minute. I love it.’
