Paul Lawrie: I’ll be rooting for Stevie

He would rather be there himself, of course, but Paul Lawrie says he will be watching the Masters on television this year and cheering on his close friend and fellow Scot Stephen Gallacher as he makes his debut in the first men’s major of the season.

An injury-curtailed start to the season means that former Open champion Lawrie will watch all the Augusta action from his home in Aberdeen this year and, though he expects Rory McIlroy or perhaps Jason Day to slip into the Green Jacket on Sunday night, he insists that he will be rooting for pal Gallacher to do well.

“Stevie’s playing great at the moment and he deserves to be there,” said Lawrie. “He’s always had the talent but, all of a sudden, over the last few years, he’s found something with the putter and that’s made such a difference for him. You look at the stats and he’s always been at the top end of ‘Greens In Regulation’ so, when he got the putter going, he was always going to be a factor.”

Lawrie has played at Augusta seven times before, his best finish being a tie for 15th in 2003. Even so, he says he and Gallacher have not really talked about what the Lothians man can expect when the tournament gets underway tomorrow.

“It’s a seriously tough test but Stevie’s going to love it” – Paul Lawrie

“The only thing that he really asked was whether or not to play a practice round and I said he absolutely should,” added Lawrie. “I know he has already played one with Sandy on Saturday and I believe he has arranged to play with Olazabal, too. Ollie is the guy everyone wants to play with at Augusta. He’s won there twice and is so helpful with giving you information and advice, so Stevie will get everything he needs from him.”

Gallacher is one of 24 debutants in the field this week, with the Masters being a notoriously difficult place for first-timers to win. Indeed, in the history of the tournament, only three have ever managed to do so.

“It’s well-known that your first time there is tough,” said Lawrie, who missed the cut on his own debut in 2000. “It’s the greens, really. You can play as many practice rounds as you want but, come Thursday, they will be completely different because they’ll have had the heat lamps out on them to get them up to speed. They’re off the scale.

“My first year, I played practice rounds on the Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then, on the Thursday, in the first round, I putted clean off the green on the first hole. It was an uphill putt, too!

“So, it’s a seriously tough test but Stevie’s going to love it. It’s one of the coolest events you can play.”

Do you agree with Paul Lawrie?

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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor