Peter Lawrie makes most of O’Grady invitation

Peter Lawrie did not know he would be playing at Wentworth until Monday afternoon but he had plenty of reasons to thank European Tour chief executive George O’Grady for the tournament invitation that could help him regain his Tour card for next season.

Lawrie shot an opening-round three-under-par 68 at the BMW PGA Championship yesterday to rekindle the former Spanish Open champion’s hopes of rejoining the Tour full-time next season after losing his card by placing 174th on the Race To Dubai in 2014.

After starting this year on a series of sponsors’ invitations, some of them thanks to the influence of Rory McIlroy and Paul McGinley, the 41-year-old yesterday found some cause for celebration.