Paul Lawrie’s golf business interests are bourgeoning but the 1999 Open champion’s not quite ready to turn the clubs in from competitive golf just yet.
The Aberdonian signed a deal two weeks ago for his second Golf Centre in the Aberdeen area, at Inchmarlo, following the success of his first operation on Deeside despite the floods which engulfed the property this winter.
There are plans to expand what he jokingly calls his “empire” in the future, perhaps even to foreign soil, but there’s also his European Tour event which moves to Archerfield in East Lothian after last year’s successful launch at Murcar.
But although he admits to a “little change of priorities” he’s still desperate to stay as a tour player especially after he played so well for three rounds in Qatar earlier this year – and he admits to having spoken to European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke about his plans.
“I spoke to Darren, he won’t mind me saying, because he’s had chats with a lot of people,” said Lawrie. “He’ll let us know what he thinks and I think he’s going to make an announcement (about vice-captains) after the Open apparently.
“I think he’ll be a brilliant captain. McGinley was something we’d never seen before, how he did it. I don’t think Darren will be at that level of preparation, but I think he’ll be as good as Paul.
“All the boys love him. You’ve got to have the respect of the team, that’s absolutely necessary, and I think Darren has that in abundance.”
Lawrie won’t get back to Hazeltine as a player now, but even with the Seniors just three years away and his other interests, he’s still a competitive tour player first and foremost.
“If you see me when I don’t play as well as I would like, I’m still quite feisty,” said Lawrie, who after some weeks off since the Desert Swing starts a concerted spell of tournaments in Spain this week, followed by China, Ireland, Wentworth, Sweden and France before the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart and the Open to follow.
“I had some weeks off after Dubai because I didn’t much fancy the schedule, I don’t play well in the more humid conditions, and there was a lot going on around here.
“Let’s say there’s been a little changing of priorities. It’s the way things have happened, but I still see the most important thing is playing. I don’t go to the Golf Centre first thing every morning to go through the books, I go to hit balls.”
Qatar and the Open last year, where he and Marc Warren were pushing for the lead through 36 holes, show him that the fire is still there.
“First two days at St Andrews I didn’t play that well but putted well,” he said. “The two final rounds I played really well but holed nothing.
“Qatar, I couldn’t see that final round happening. Last day, a little bit of breeze, and I’m normally really good when I get a sniff of a chance and have the lead, but that 78 just did me in.
“That affected me for a while. But if you’re capable of being two shots ahead after three rounds you are capable of winning. And if you’re capable of winning, playing is still the most important thing.”
The golf centre business is busy, but wife Marian has taken on a major role while Lawrie has been prepared to delegate to his staff, but all hands have been required after floodwaters in January engulfed the centre.
“It was just devastating, we were waist deep in the upper car park,” he said. “The second and third holes (of the nine hole course) were badly damaged but we’re open again.
“The water was up to the balcony of the coffee shop, so the job that the staff have done to get it open at all is just incredible. People have been there working day and night.”
Undaunted, when the opportunity came up at Inchmarlo to open a second centre, Lawrie didn’t hesitate.
“They came to us, we had a few meetings, and we thought, yes, let’s have a go,” he said. “There are nine holes, a beautiful little course, a 22 bay driving range, restaurant, clubhouse and there’s a lot of what we do at Desside we’ll move out there.
“We see it as the model, nine holes, driving range, short game area, members facility, coffee shop, restaurant, a family-orientated place. Someplace you can play a quick nine holes even over lunch.
“Down the road we’ll be looking at somewhere else, not in the Aberdeen area as we have got two here now. We would like to get another one, but somewhere nice and warm, a winter base type of place.”
Meanwhile Lawrie also has his own tournament, which moves this year from his native North East.
“It switched from Murcar because Archerfield came up with a really, really good offer,” he said. “They were keen to take it, so we went down there and we’re looking forward to it. They were really easy to deal with.
“Everything will be exactly the same, just a different venue. We’ve got four wild cards this year. I’ll take one of them but it gives us a bit more room and more options to play with, and hopefully some of them will be pretty exciting.
“There’s no clash with other events this year and a lot of the guys who didn’t play last year have already said they will. Stevie (Gallacher) has already said he’s going to play, so I think we’re going to get a little bit of a better field.”