Paul Lawrie’s world has ground to a halt like everyone’s elses, but the former Open champion believes golf should wait and take as long a break as required until the coronavirus alarm has passed.
The 51-year-old has had to close his thriving Golf Centre in Aberdeen, his wide-ranging Foundation has shut down and for a man who likes to stay busy, bashing a few balls into a net in his back garden isn’t going to cut it.
But he believes that sport in general has to take a backseat while the pandemic is causing havoc in the world.
“The world is in an uncertain place at the moment and sport is the least of our worries, it should be taking a back seat,” he said.
“I hear all these guys talking about the [football] Premier League and how they are going to get that played…I just think there are far more important things in the world.
“I understand it is big business and understand it is important, but not as important as some of the stuff that is going on.”
That goes for golf’s biggest events, the Ryder Cup and majors as well, he stresses.
“I read that (European captain) Padraig Harrington had been asked the question and clearly the obvious answer would be, they want to play the Ryder Cup and are looking at ways to do so however they can,” said the Aberdeen Standards Investment ambassador.
“But if everything keeps going the way it is going and no-one is going to play any golf, then I don’t know. Is that an option?
“Thankfully, I’m not the captain, I’m not on the Ryder Cup Committee, I’m not having to make a decision on anything like that.
“There’s players who haven’t got long to qualify, there’s some who are in the team at the moment…I don’t know if that is fair and or not.
“I don’t think you’re at the point of postponing the Ryder Cup yet. I think you’ve got a little bit of time yet before you have to make a decision like that.
‘They’re up to the end of May with tournaments postponed, I saw the Irish Open news the other day. You’ve got a little bit of time yet before you have to make a decision over whether you delay it by a year, or play it a bit later.”
As for the Open, Lawrie doubts whether it can be played in July, but he is not in favour of either the Ryder Cup or the majors being played behind closed doors.
“All I would say is that fans are a massive part of sport,” he continued. “They always have been and always will be. You take that away from it and it doesn’t make it what it should be.
“Just from a players’ point of view, it is always great when you play in events with a lot of people cheering you on or cheering other players you are playing alongside, it’s a huge part of sport.
“It would be very, very strange to play a Ryder Cup without fans. On one hand it would be quite good because it would save some people from abusing you.
“But, on the other hand, it’s a big part of it. When you are playing away from home, there are more home fans than there are away fans – and that’s a massive part of the Ryder Cup experience.”
Playing the majors if possible later in the year would be the ideal, but Lawrie doesn’t see a clear path to that.
“Even if we do get to a point where, let’s say, August or September comes and we’re able to play, you’ve got all these tournaments we’re trying to cram into a few weeks,” he pointed out.
“I don’t know how they’re going to sort that out. I would imagine the majors will get preference, get the best week that they want. There are obviously going to be some tournaments that miss out, those scheduled to be played at that time of year.
‘Do they vacate their week to let a major in there? I have absolutely no clue – and thankfully I don’t have to make that decision.”
He does however have major responsibilities with the Golf Centre and his Foundation, both of which are in mothballs at the moment.
“We closed the centre early, we thought it was right because it was a driving range as well as the golf course,” he said. “We felt it was important to close it for the sake of the staff and the customers.
“We employ a number of staff and the furlough scheme is going to be a benefit to us. But we obviously have a lot of other things that we can’t stop. There’s a lot of money going out at the moment that we can’t do anything about
“But everyone is in that position, not just me, so I’m not moaning about that. That’s just life and you’ve got to get on with it. The foundation is totally stopped at the minute as well. It’s not great, but it’s just life at the minute.”
