Scotland's Paul Lawrie goes close to making European Tour history
Former Open champion Paul Lawrie threatened to record the first 59 in European Tour history before settling for an impressive opening 61 in the KLM Open on Thursday.
Starting from the 10th at Kennemer Golf Club, Lawrie carded an eagle and four birdies to race to the turn in 28 and picked up further shots on the second, sixth and seventh.
59 alert! @PaulLawriegolf needs to birdie the final two holes to reach 11-under-par and a round of 59... pic.twitter.com/VqMVGrmf1h
— bunkered (@BunkeredOnline) September 10, 2015
That left Lawrie needing to birdie the last two holes to break the magical 60 barrier, albeit on a par-70 and with preferred lies in operation, but the 46-year-old Scot pulled his tee shot on the eighth into a greenside bunker and did well to save par from eight feet.
Another par on the last meant Lawrie had to be content with the lowest round of his European Tour career and a two-shot lead over English trio James Morrison, David Horsey and Robert Rock, Dutch home favourite Joost Luiten and Argentina’s Tani Goya.
Paul Lawrie ❤️ Thursdays!
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 10, 2015
His last five opening rounds = 68, 67, 66, 65, 61! pic.twitter.com/I2IfhpbuWC
Lawrie, who recorded his first top-10 of the year by finishing tied for sixth in Denmark three weeks ago, had pulled out of a pre-tournament pro-am on Tuesday suffering from a back injury.
However, there were no signs of that when the former Ryder Cup player eagled the par-five 12th and birdied the 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th to equal the lowest nine holes on tour this season.
Wonder what @PaulLawriegolf has for breakfast! Either that, or ate up all his...greens.... last night! #whatbadback @EuropeanTour #KLMOpen
— Ken Banks (@kenkenzobanks) September 10, 2015
@PaulLawriegolf fantastic round of golf. What's that saying, beware the injured golfer! Keep it going!
— Stephen Dowell (@sevefan) September 10, 2015
Further birdies followed on the second and sixth, and history beckoned when he found another by two-putting from long range on the par-five seventh, but a wayward tee shot on the eighth effectively put paid to his chances.
Low scoring was the order of the day with Mikko Ilonen and Morten Orum Madsen three off the lead on six under, while 2014 Ryder Cup captains Paul McGinley - who was playing alongside Lawrie – and Tom Watson both shot 69.
