Paul Lawrie gave the impression yesterday that the last time he felt he had putted satisfactorily was during the 1999 Open championship. This may or may not be true but what is certain is that the Scot has not won since that extraordinary final day at Carnoustie.
It is a record of relative failure that few dare to raise with a man whose tongue can be as waspish as his putter-head contrary. But now, finally, he may be poised to remove this particular monkey from those broad shoulders if he maintains yesterday's level of play in the delayed first round of the Wales Open.
The Wentworth Hills course here was as benign and dry as it had been rotten and wet the day before when the first round was abandoned with only six golfers in play.
The tournament director Mike Stewart hoped to complete the first round yesterday, the second round today and the final 36 holes tomorrow with the halfway cut the top 50 and ties instead of the normal 70 and ties to make that possible.
Lawrie, out in the morning, made the most of it with a five-under-par 67, a score that included missed birdie putts at the opening three holes, a familiar and monotonous bell ringing in his head.
Then suddenly it all went right, Lawrie registering six birdies and one bogey, until he messed up a chance from five feet at the last, his putt missing the cup by a country mile - or eight inches, which at this level is much the same thing.
"I holed a 25-footer at the 17th but apart from that all my birdies were very close indeed," he said. "I've been playing this way for quite a while. It's the putting. The ball is coming off at all angles.
"That one at the last was just horrendous. But I'll keep trying. The good thing is that I can shoot five under par without putting well. I had a different putter again today but it's not the club, I'm afraid, it's the person operating it. Why? I don't know.
"I looked at some old footage the other day and it looks the same stroke. There is just no confidence at present, which is unusual for me, although I'm playing fantastic," he said afterwards.
Lawrie is one of the players on the fringe of the Ryder Cup side with one of the men alongside him on the leaderboard yesterday, Paul McGinley - Gary Orr is the other - in the last automatic place at 10th in the rankings.
"I dearly want to make it and I'd be surprised if I was a pick but I've got to be careful not to want it too much otherwise I'll get in my own way," McGinley said.
"I'm in 10th position in the points list but I know I can't defend the position. The money I'm on at the moment if I play reasonably the next four weeks is not good enough. I have to accelerate from there."
McGinley believes he will have to qualify on merit if he wants to make Sam Torrance's 12-man team with Sergio Garcia, Jesper Parnevik and Jose Maria Olazabal the three men most likely to battle it out for the two wildcard spots.
"I'd be surprised if I was picked but I don't want to rule myself out at the same time," the Dubliner added. "You never know. Form is a great thing and it's very important to pick your form players in the Ryder Cup.
Meanwhile, the Ryder Cup committee arrived in Wales yesterday, watched a presentation, and said little. But Sir Terry Matthews, whose money funds the bid, pronounced himself happy. "We've done everything we can," he said. "It's a very good bid but if I don't succeed this time I won't quit. My Auntie Jane lived till she was 109 so I've a few matches left yet."
Scores in SPORTS ROUND-UP
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