Lawrie emerges from the fog

To win a golf tournament you have to be in the mood. By that I mean you have to walk like a winner, talk like a winner, fill the air around you with the rich atmosphere of impending victory.

Paul Lawrie brought a good attitude with him to the Dunhill Links Challenge and started with a solid opening round in Carnoustie, after an easy drive from his home in Aberdeen, an hour and a half down the road from St Andrews. He had passed the exit for Carnoustie, the scene of his greatest golfing triumph just over two years ago. Sure, the place filled him with nostalgia, but at 32 years of age he had not given up hope of realising more of his undoubted talent.

Close to home, on familiar territory and despite having played well tee to green all year long but not being able to finish it off on the greens he felt this could be the week; if he could just play the way he had been playing and hope the work he had put in with the flat stick would finally come to fruition.

There were obvious misgivings about the new event, not only among the golfers but everyone connected with the event from the transport co-ordinators to the media - how do you cover such a diffused tournament? Playing with amateurs for three days on three courses in probably appalling weather was being mumbled about in less than complimentary tones. It took the realists to quickly remind the sceptics there were five million reasons to bite the lower lip for the Links Challenge.

Lawrie had been in outside contention in Qatar, the French Open, the Open and the Scandinavian Masters earlier in this year. He had lost in a play-off in the Wales Open. He rightly attributed the loss in Wales to inferior putting. He reckoned he had not stuck to the basics of one shot at a time, retaining focus and keeping negative thoughts at bay. He had been thinking of winning instead of thinking about doing what it takes to win.

Lawrie had won the Open in 1999 coming from the pack. Nobody had expected him to win. He was projected onto the world stage and it has taken him some time to adjust to the attention.

So, lying in 33rd position on the European Order of Merit, he embarked on the second last outing of his season. He had his full team with him; coach, caddie and physiotherapist. Family members travelled from Aberdeen on different days, his new manager, the former tour player, Stephen McAllister, showed up on the weekend, his psychologist was there for a day's observation. Given it was a pro-am he was playing with his main sponsor Martin Gilbert. It was a cosy sort of affair for a man who prefers to be surrounded by familiar faces.

Gilbert was confident and courteous and quick to get out of the way if his score was not going to count. He also provided some light entertainment for the pro. Professional golfers become acutely aware of swing deficiencies in their amateur partners, but Martin was not offended by Paul's tittering at his golfing inadequacies as it helped the cause in the sponsor's mind.

Lawrie was five-under going into his third round at St Andrews. The good golf tee to green had continued at Kings Barns and Carnoustie, without much conversion on the greens. We started our third round, after hanging around for most of the morning due to a fog delay, in a heavy rain storm. By the time Lawrie had made his second birdie putt of the day on the second and teed off on the third the second green was flooded and play was suspended once again. Typical, the putter had worked early and now we were halted. I don't have to stress the importance of momentum. When you hole a few early on, you think you can hole everything.

We resumed the round late Saturday afternoon from the third fairway. The putter was still working, Lawrie birdied the third. By the time we reached the 12th fairway the siren sounded for the end of play due to the fading light. He wondered if he should finish the hole (you have the option to stop or complete the hole you are playing). To which I emphatically replied that we should play in the dark if we could, given the way he was putting. He finished the day with another single putt to take him to eight-under for the day.

By the time we reached the 16th tee on Sunday Lawrie had taken just 20 putts for the round. He took seven more to complete the round in 63 shots over 21 hours with three interruptions to join Paul McGinley in the lead.

Given the delays and the weather and the tedious nature of the tournament the pros could have been excused an odd whinge. Lawrie, by his own admission can whine with the best of them but I didn't hear a murmur of discontent from him all week. He knuckled down to hitting one shot at a time and sticking to good course strategy. There was a sense of purpose about the man I had observed at close quarters in the heat of battle all year long.

This was the first time I had sensed such an air of confidence in my player all year.

The 17th hole provided its usual drama. We watched Ernie Els hole his birdie putt on 18 just after Lawrie missed his par putt. Martin Gilbert glared at me ashen-faced. Despite feeling uncertain about the outcome, my boss reassured me as we moved to the final tee. "Don't worry we'll do it in style by birdieing the last," he told me. And of course he did.