David Law is focused on the next shot rather than whatever has gone before, and the result was the freedom to sweep into the lead at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
The Aberdonian bagged his debut win in his just his first few weeks on Tour two years ago in Australia. But he has struggled to build on that success and needs a strong season in 2021.
That’s brought a change in philosophy which paid immediate dividends in Qatar. A first round seven-under 64 without a bogey on his card left him a shot clear of a group of four.
During the break after the first Desert Swing Law, now 29, sat down with coach Alan McCloskey and his long-time mentor, former Open champion Paul Lawrie, to plot through why he couldn’t maintain consistency.
‘Trusting you’ve done the hard work’
“I’ve been guilty over the last few weeks when I’ve had decent rounds going but not finishing them off,” he said. “Over the past couple of seasons I’ve been guilty of asking myself why I’ve hit bad shots, instead of just focusing on the next one.
“Over the break we had a sit down with my coach Alan and with Paul, and we discussed it. It’s all about getting the ball in the hole now, trusting that you’ve done the hard work and that part’s done.
“This was a great score and I played really well, and I was semi-conscious of sticking with it and trying to go low.
“I was I was really happy with how I stuck to my routines and processes, and I came out of it with a good score.”
Law’s had good starts in tour events throughout the last two years and not been able to sustain them. But he’s feeling confident about the rest of the weekend.
“Conditions were quite easy but I’m looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow, even if it’ll be different,” he said.
“Although it was hot and muggy it was calm, and it’s never normally like that here. Tomorrow will be a bit more like normal, a bit of wind and it’ll be testing.”
‘I don’t hit it straight enough’
Jamieson – whose home is at Sawgrass where the other tour is this week – started with a 67 in the morning. He thinks he got the tough end of the draw with the wind set to be strongest on Friday afternoon.
“I knew if I got off to a good start this morning it would be okay,” he said. “If you don’t have a great start today then tomorrow might be a big ask.
“I had a bit of time off since the last tournament so you’re never sure what to expect. But I’ve been working pretty hard at home, trying to tidy up the swing a little.
“I hit it okay in the Middle East, but my driver is something I always battle with. I don’t hit it straight enough.
“This course probably suits that because there’s a bit of room off the tee. Also there’s not a lot of drivers, but the ones I did hit were very good.”
Richie Ramsay, Connor Syme (both 69), Stephen Gallacher (70) and last year’s runner-up David Drysdale (70) also went under par.
