GOLF TOUR NEWS: PETER LAWRIE plans to use his final-round 66 at the Ballantine's Championship in Korea yesterday as a springboard to launch the defence of his Open de Espana title in Girona next week.

Lawrie tied for eighth on one under par, three strokes behind Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, who kept his nerve to win a play-off at a windswept Pinx Golf Club on Jeju Island.

Thongchai shot a two-under 70 to move into joint first alongside Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and local player Kang Sung-hoon to force an extra hole at the par-four 18th.

After he and Kang placed their second shot close to the pin, the 39-year-old had to wait as Jeju Island-born Kang sent his birdie attempt from six feet just wide.

But Thongchai holed his putt from five feet to win his second co-sanctioned European and Asian Tour event of the year, following his success at the Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open in March.

Lawrie collected €41,000 for his strong finish, but will travel to Spain without having won since his success in Seville last May, but he feels his six-under round may be precisely the boost he needs.

It was the 35-year-old’s first top-10 finish on the European Tour this season, and the first time in the past four events he managed to make the cut.

And the Dubliner cannot help but draw positive parallels between his situation now and how he was playing going into the Spanish event last year.

“I struggled the last couple of weeks,” he admitted. “I missed the cut last week, and I missed the two cuts in Spain and Portugal.

“But I’m delighted to be here for the weekend because I went up and down on Friday to make the cut on the mark, so it was a nice way to finish.

“The same happened last year, to be honest. I missed the cut in Beijing, I finished tied for ninth in Shanghai and I won the next week.

“The game is coming around, so hopefully see what happens next week.”

Lawrie might have enjoyed an even better weekend in Korea had rain and strong winds not affected the second and third rounds.

On those two days Lawrie shot 75 and 76, having opened the tournament with a two-under 70.

But he refused to think of what might have been, saying: “You can’t do that. Never look back, so always look forward.

“It was one of those days. I just got used to the weather yesterday. Yesterday was very tough. Today was a little bit easier, and I holed a few nice putts.

“But I played lovely golf. I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens and gave myself a lot of chances.”

Now Lawrie focuses on successfully defending a title for the first time in his career, even though he will not be doing so at the Real Club de Golf in Seville where he won the Spanish Open last year.

“It will (be strange) because you’re not back in Seville,” he said.

“It will be a bit strange, but I’ve never been a defending champion before so it is going to be strange no matter what happens.

“I’ve been out here a long time, played Challenge Tour for a good few years. After a while, you think if you’ve been doing the lottery for 40 years, it’s about time you’re going to win something,” he said of his win last year.

“Thankfully I won last year, so it opens a few doors, you know, especially getting into tournaments and stuff like that. It does boost the confidence.”

Gareth Maybin closed with a 72 for a share of 27th, while Paul McGinley finished on eight over after a 73.