Lawrie fires warning after Qatar romp
February 06, 2012 09:39:48 UK
Former Open champion Paul Lawrie believes the best is still to come as he continued his sensational start to 2012 by romping to victory at the Qatar Masters on Sunday.
Lawrie shot a faultless seven-under 65 in the final round to cruise to a five-shot victory in Doha - the second time he has lifted the title.
The last time the Scot won in Qatar was in 1999 when he went on to claim victory at the Open Championship at Carnoustie and the omens look good for Royal Lytham and St Anne's in July.
He can be backed at 67.00 to win The Open, while Rory McIlroy is available at 8.00, Tiger Woods at 9.00 and Luke Donald at 13.00.
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Lawrie is delighted with how he is striking the ball at the moment and also with his performance on the greens, where he has struggled for consistency in recent years.
He said: "I played lovely all week. But today I think tee to green, apart from my tee shot on 10th, I can't play much better than that. I actually felt I left three or four putts out there and got it around to seven-under on a golf course where the greens were pretty firm.
I played lovely all week. But today I think tee to green, apart from my tee shot on 10th, I can't play much better than that.
Paul Lawrie
"You get a little bit older and you kind of lose focus but I actually feel the opposite. I feel I'm getting better. I feel my ball striking has improved immensely since I turned 40. So it's great to win."
Lawrie started the final day one stroke ahead of Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts but it was Sergio Garcia who looked like being his closest challenger for much of the fourth round after the Spaniard fired six birdies in his first 11 holes.
But Garcia's challenge came to a spluttering halt on the greens on the back nine, allowing Lawrie to march imperiously to the title.
The Scot's victory lifts him back into the world's top 50 and he has now finished in the top ten in his last four events while he is now a serious contender for Europe's Ryder Cup team this year.
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