McDowell and Lawrie’s hot streak

THE PGA Championship has never been a particularly kind event to the Irish, our only win coming courtesy of the late Harry Bradshaw at Llandudno in 1958.

But the omens are bright for bridging the 47 year gap after yesterday’s opening round of the €4 million BMW sponsored event at Wentworth.

Thirty two year-old Dubliner Peter Lawrie set the tone with a five under par 67 in the first group on the course and retained the advantage until just before 6 o’clock when he was joined by Graeme McDowell, who shrugged off the frustration of missing the cut in last week’s Nissan Irish Open. He could now be poised for a third tournament victory, having previously captured the Scandinavian Masters in 2002 and the Italian Open last year. An interloper in the person of Frenchman Philippe Lima also got in on the act late in the day when a birdie on the 18th put him alongside the two Irishmen.

There is also a strong supporting cast for the pacesetters with Damien McGrane on 69; Pádraig Harrington on two under par 70, Darren Clarke 71 and Paul McGinley 72, although there is obviously a long way to go and the leaderboard is peppered with several of the game’s finest. Surprisingly, though, 9-2 pre-tournament favourite Ernie Els could do no better than 73 and US Open champion Retief Goosen was less than pleased with his 70 on a fine day eminently suited to low scoring. Three times champion Colin Montgomerie finished on one under.

“Of course it was very frustrating to miss the cut in my own Open last week but it’s been like that for most of the last few months”, said McDowell, whose weekend activity has been severely curtailed of late and who owes his world ranking of 40th largely to a second place finish in the Bay Hill Classic. “Still, it’s nice to finish with three straight birdies. I’m surprised that the scoring wasn’t better and that five under is leading. The firmness of the fairways and greens is probably the explanation but this is a fun course. I like the way each fairway is framed by the trees and bunkers and now I’ve given myself the start I’ve been looking for.”

Very simply and sensibly, Lawrie spelled out his goals for the season: “I want to be the last man in the media centre on a Sunday evening, if not this Sunday, then one soon afterwards, said the 2003 European Tour Rookie of the Year. “Winning tournaments is what it’s all about. Getting the Rookie of the Year was a great honour but I was wet behind the ears then and I was lucky because my best finish of the year was losing a play-off for the Spanish Open.”

For Lawrie, it certainly was a case of the early bird catching the worm. He agreed that the often unpredictable greens were in perfect condition when he teed off at 7am. He arrived on the range at 5.40am when the ground staff were still mowing the grass and he had to ask where he could hit a few shots.

“As a kid, I watched the PGA on television and they used to hit driver and two irons to make the first green,” he noted. “Technology has changed everything on this course now and the way the ball is running, you’ve got to place the ball, there’s no need to whack it out 400 yards. This year I’ve become a lot more consistent. I’ve started to control the flight, I’m hitting more fairways and hitting it longer.”

Lawrie had the good fortune to hole three times from off the putting surface, most spectacularly at the 8th where his sand wedge from 124 yards dropped into the hole for an eagle two. He had only 27 putts on his way to his best opening round of the season.