Paul Lawrie: My toughest matchplay opponents

It’s less than 24 hours until the Aberdeen Asset Management Paul Lawrie Match Play gets going at Archerfield Links.

The host himself goes up against Lucas Bjerregaard in match No.18, which tees off at 12.40pm.Either Lee Slattery or Richard Green await him should he see off his Danish first round opponent.

But here’s a question: who are the toughest players former Open champion Lawrie has ever come up against in a matchplay competition?

We caught up with the two-time Ryder Cup star and vice-captain for this year’s match at Hazeltine to find out…

Tiger Woods

“Monty and I played against Tiger at Brookline in 1999 and he’s our best ever player, certainly of my generation. Monty played magnificently that day and it was pretty much him against Tiger with me and his playing partner Steve Pate featuring now and again. But to play against the best player of my generation was incredibly tough. We managed to win that day, which was nice, but he was certainly the best player I’ve faced in matchplay.”

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Craig Parry

“I played Craig in the World Match Play at Wentworth in 1999 and he was quite magnificent. He never hit the ball off-line, kept it in play all the time and he was a great chipper and putter. When you play against someone like that in matchplay, it’s just so difficult to beat them. I was about seven or eight-under that day for the 30-odd holes that we played and he beat me 3&2.”

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Jose Maria Olazabal

“Me and Jose played against each other in the 2000 Seve Trophy. As everyone knows from the Ryder Cup, he was an unbelievable matchplay golfer who never gave much away. He was incredibly tough to play against. His short game was magnificent and he always holed the key putts when it mattered. When you’re playing against guys like that – short game maestros with total win-at-all-costs attitudes – then matches are just so difficult.”

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• This item first appeared in issue 148 of bunkered golf magazine (June 2016).

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Paul Lawrie Match Play: Tickets just £15!

Admission to the Aberdeen Asset Management Paul Lawrie Match Play is priced at just £15 per day (£35 season) with FREE admission for under-18s. The tournament gets underway tomorrow (Thursday, August 4) and continues through to Sunday. For more information, log-on to paullawriematchplay.com or follow the event on Twitter: @PLMatchplay