Interview: Paul Lawrie on his return to Ryder Cup THERE was a distinct chill in the air at Daldowie Crematorium in Uddingston that Friday morning last October. Yet, there was no hiding the genuine warmth in the words delivered by Paul Lawrie, the emotion thick in his voice, as he paid tribute to Adam Hunter. The pair had shared one of Scottish sport's memorable moments as Lawrie landed the Open Championship in dramatic fashion, in 1999 at Carnoustie. Hunter, his trusty coach, had been the man who said the right things as the Aberdonian prepared for the play-off he went on to win. A former European Tour winner himself, his friendship, however, had become just as valuable to Lawrie than his expert advice on the technicalities of a golf swing. A few months before Hunter lost his near two-year battle with leukaemia at the age of 48, his star pupil had returned to the winner's circle. His success in the Andalucia Open in Malaga ended a nine-year title drought. It also sparked a remarkable resurgence that will be capped next week, when Lawrie, at the age of 43, bridges a 13-year gap by stepping back on to the glitz and glamour of a Ryder Cup stage again. Hunter will be on his mind at Medinah. It's down to him, more than anything else, that Lawrie is donning the European colours again in the biennial contest. "There were five or six things in the mix that meant I kicked on, but you'd be surprised by how much of it is Adam," said Lawrie, nestled comfortably in a chair in the conference room at Deeside Golf Club, where he plays most of his golf during breaks in the European Tour schedule and the venue earlier this week for his second invitational tournament on the Tartan Tour. I felt that for the last couple of years he was alive I didn't do justice to what he did for me. So I was trying to kick on for him. While that Spanish success was timely, what Lawrie has achieved since then will undoubtedly have had Hunter looking down on his friend with a strong feeling of pride. On his way to winning both the Qatar Masters (for the second time in his career) and the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles this year, the Scot had the Sky Sports commentators purring in admiration. Both performances were, quite simply, a joy to behold. They've helped Lawrie become Scotland's highest-ranked player for the first time in his career. He's up to a career-high 27th and isn't prepared to stop there. Playing the best golf of his life, Lawrie believes the sky is the limit. "I want to be a top-10 player," he declared, before admitting it will take "a lot of work" to achieve that goal. Hosting his event in the Granite City was the calm before the Ryder Cup storm. Lawrie cut his golfing teeth on the Tartan Tour as a young assistant at Banchory. He's as comfortable in that environment today as he was in 1990, when he landed the Scottish Assistants" Championship at Cruden Bay. He may have been his own event's star attraction, but Lawrie is no "Big Time Charlie." Anything but, in fact. He still loves chewing the fat with the likes of Greig Hutcheon and Scott Henderson, players he's both known and competed against for a long time. Equally, he'll always have time, no matter how hectic his schedule is, to offer advice to up-and-coming players such as David Law, Philip McLean, Jordan Findlay and Kris Nicol. Having supported most of them through his Foundation as amateurs, he's now helping them in their professional careers by giving them attachments to the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, which is located on the outskirts of his home city. Craig, his oldest son, is working there as he waits to start a course at the University of Highlands & Islands at its Dornoch campus. Lawrie's wife, Marian, has insisted he gets a good education behind him before attempting to follow in his old man's spikemarks. Michael, the youngest of two golf-mad siblings, will be told exactly the same thing when the time comes. "The reason the boys are as good as they are is because of Marian," insisted Lawrie. I'm away a lot and she's brought them up and she's done a great job. She's been a huge part of everything. They met when Lawrie worked at Banchory. In recent years, they have joined some friends to walk the West Highland Way and, more recently, the Great Glen Way. The latter raised funds for the Beatson Leukaemia Clinic in Glasgow, where Hunter was treated, as well as Lawrie's Foundation. It would have been worthy of a champagne celebration, but the Lawries are down-to-earth types. "We enjoy our Belhaven and gin and tonic of a night," he revealed, mischieviously rising to the bait when he was asked if it was Marian who liked the beer by letting out one of his hearty chuckles. He can also be humourous today about it, but Lawrie's introduction to the Ryder Cup at Brookline in 1999 was no laughing matter. While Andrew Coltart, his compatriot and fellow rookie, wasn't blooded, bizzarely, by the European captain, Mark James, until the final-day singles, Lawrie was thrown in at the deep end. He was partnered with Colin Montgomerie in the opening match and found himself hitting the first shot of the event. "We were on one of the practice rounds and Mark James and Monty were on one side of the green and I was on the other side," said Lawrie, recalling how that had come about. " (Caddie) Paddy (Byrne) obviously overheard them, came over and said, "I think you're hitting the first shot." Then Monty and Mark came over and said, "We think the course sets up for you playing off the odds and Colin playing off the evens." I said, "That's fine." Monty said, "You do realise that it means you'll be hitting the first shot, and I said, "Yeah, not a problem." He was a wee bit taken aback, but when he turned and was 20 yards away, I was saying to myself, "Bloody hell, I'm hitting the first shot."" To this day, he's relieved that he somehow managed to get his ball airborne. He may have looked calm on the outside but, internally, he was a quivering wreck. "You can't get any more nervous than that shot, but you can't let anyone see that, you've got to have a bit of bravado," he added. Both teams are on the tee, both captains, all the wives, you look around and the place is heaving. There's millions watching that one shot on TV. Seriously, I would have accepted anything but a fresh air because I could hardly get the ball on the tee. You can't explain that experience, so I was very pleased with the shot. It found the semi-rough on the left and he went on to make a commendable debut, picking up three-and-and-a-half points out of five. Europe lost that match, which was marred by some of the American players running on to the green at the 17th after Justin Leonard had holed a monstrous putt in his singles match against Jose Maria Olazabal, the man who is captaining Europe this time around at Medinah. Lawrie expects it to be raucous there, just as it was in Boston. "You want their fans to be supportive and back their team," he said. I can't imagine the American players get much better treatment when they play here. I don't think it is bad at all, you just get on with it. Apart from that 17th green, there's nothing you would change about the week for anybody in "99." The face of golf has changed since then. Thirteen years ago, all 12 members of the European team flew into Boston on the official charter. On Monday, only Lawrie, London-based Francesco Molinari and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, the sole rookie in Olazabal's team, will be on the flight out of Heathrow. The rest are either playing in this week's Tour Championship or Atlanta or stay in America these days. Lawrie described that situation as "weird" but is adamant it will not have a detrimental effect on the European team spirit in Illinois. "I don't think we'll lose anything by that," he said. Last time there were a couple of players I didn't get on with and with one of them we had a bit of falling out a couple of weeks before, but that went out the door that week, we were best of pals. The craic takes over and you'll do anything for any person on that team. There will always be guys that don't get on. Twelve players is a big team and, in the same room, there will be two or three that can't stand each other. But that week it all gets put aside and you pull together. There's no Monty for Lawrie to partner this time around. In a twist of fate, the winning captain in Wales two years ago will be in the Sky Sports commentary box, taking over the seat Lawrie had at Celtic Manor. Olazabal seems certain to retain some of the tried-and-tested pairings, notably Rpry McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, from that victory. Sergio Garcia's return to the event could also see him reunited with Luke Donald. Add in the fact that Ian Poulter and Justin Rose have also gelled well in the past and the list of potential partners for Lawrie is whittled down to just a handful. "There's been little bits of chat and people saying things," he said on that subject. I think they see Colsaerts and myself playing fourballs; Molinari in the foursomes maybe. I don't know how often he (Olazabal) wants me to play, I'm thinking maybe three out of five. Whether I get more than that I don't know. I've not got a problem if he only sees me playing once before the singles, that's fine if he thinks it's for the good of the team. I think the idea is everyone playing on the first day, but it depends on how the morning goes. On top of his busy playing schedule and overseeing a Foundation that has gone from strength to strength since it was launched soon after he became an Open champion, Lawrie has spent the last 18 months working on his autobiography. Due to hit the shelves in November, it is believed that includes a chapter on him dealing with bouts of depression during his career. "Everyone gets those spells where you think, "Man I can't do this anymore." You've got to get yourself up, but then you kick on and deal with it. Marian boots me out of the house and I hit a few balls," he said, admitting those occasions have been few and far between over the past year and a half. "It's been a very nice run and long may it continue," he added. Andalucia was the start, but the moment that kicked me on was the Dubai World Championship (where he finished second behind Spaniard Alvaro Quiros). I felt I should have won that week and when you feel that against the top 60 players in Europe that is terrific for your confidence. As were those wins in Doha and Gleneagles, though, when asked to pick out his memorable moment from the past few months, Lawrie overlooked both of those. Instead, it came in the last round of the BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour's flagship event, at Wentworth in May. From the 18th fairway, to a back-left pin at the 72nd hole, I hit a high draw 4-iron (the same club that set up his birdie at the fourth extra hole at Carnoustie 13 years ago) in to about 10 feet. You know when you pull off shots like that you're better. It was a huge thing. I kicked on, did well at the (World) Matchplay and to then win on home turf at Gleneagles was special. So, too, would be becoming a member of a winning Ryder Cup team.