Paul Lawrie excited ahead of inaugural Match Play event

Paul Lawrie is looking to take his recent upturn in form into his own event during next week’s Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Matchplay at Murcar Links GC.

The 46-year-old followed up strong performances at the BMW International Open and the Scottish Open with a top-40 finish at last week’s 144th Open, where Lawrie went in to the weekend within two shots of the leaders before slipping down the leaderboard.

While the Scot feels he should have finished closer to eventual winner Zach Johnson at St Andrews, he believes his game is heading back in the right direction ahead of hosting next week's tournament in his home town. 

Speaking to Sky Sports, Lawrie said: “When you look at the week as a whole and look at the result I’m obviously a bit disappointed, but for the first two days I was right in there.

“It just didn’t happen over Sunday and Monday for me, where I played OK and putted pretty good but I just didn’t hole the putts that I had to.

“I played better than my tied-40th finish suggests, but it is what it is. The Open’s a massive event with a world-class field so you’ve got to be on top of your game to have a chance, but over the weekend I just didn’t have enough to keep in it.

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“The last three weeks have been hugely encouraging and I’m still keeping myself active and performing well in tournaments.

“I’m 46 but I don’t feel that age and I still feel that some of the best of my golf might still be ahead of me. I still think I can compete with the boys on the tour, even though some of them are less than half my age!”

Lawrie's focus now switches to next week's event in Aberdeen, which will be part of The Race to Dubai for a minimum of three years.

1995 Open champion John Daly is the latest player to be added to the line-up, with the first round draw to be made live on Sky Sports News HQ next Tuesday afternoon. 

Home stars Marc Warren and Richie Ramsay will also feature, with Lawrie confident everything is in place for the tournament’s debut to be a success.

“Murcar Links is looking just incredible. It’s always in good condition at any time of year, but the whole course looks great and the greens are magnificent.

"The field’s shaping pretty good. It’s obviously our first year, so we’re going to learn a lot from it and hopefully make it better and grow it as we go. 

"It's great that Mike Loggie and Saltire Energy came on board. We’re all really looking forward to it and I just wish it was next Wednesday already and the whole thing was kicking off!”

Former Ryder Cup stars Edoardo Molinari and Nicolas Colsaerts have been joined in the field by several recent European Tour winners, including James Morrison, Chris Wood and Kirdadech Aphibarnrat, while Lawrie will be teeing off himself in his own tournament.

The format will see players battle it out in straight knock out over four days, with two rounds on both Saturday and Sunday to determine who will win the €1million event.

Watch the draw for the Paul Lawrie Match Play live on Tuesday July 28 at 3.30pm on Sky Sports News HQ, with all four days of the tournament live from Thursday July 30 on Sky Sports 4 – your home of golf.