ABERDEEN STANDARD INVESTMENTS SCOTTISH OPEN

October 1, 2020

Paul Lawrie

The Renaissance Club

Quick Quotes

Q. We got to about 619 or 620 and you announced that this is it. So tell us about the decision to say goodbye to European Tour golf.

PAUL LAWRIE: Well, a lot of factors really. The main one is that I don't feel I can compete week in and week out at this level anymore, and the second reason and probably more importantly, I'm really busy off the course and I'm enjoying doing that stuff more than I am actually playing at this level. I'll play seniors. I'm not going to stop playing completely, but this will be my last European Tour event, 620. Not a bad innings when I didn't think I'd play any when I turned pro. So very proud, but obviously last one.

Q. You've always been very humble about where you started and what you thought you might achieve. Do you pinch yourself at what you've achieved?

PAUL LAWRIE: A little bit. Yeah, it's been good. I've not been a great player but I've been decent, and that's all you can ask for.

Q. Tell us about the highlights. There are some obvious ones. Talk about the things you'll treasure from your journey.

PAUL LAWRIE: Just all of it to be honest. Like I said, I turned pro when I was a 5 handicap, so I never thought I'd play any European Tour at this level, so to play 620 is pretty cool.

Q. Talk about your ambitions from here.

PAUL LAWRIE: The other reason for doing it is my back is obviously not very good. I've got a herniated disc in my back and really struggle to practice. I struggle to play more than a couple days in a row, so week in and week out travelling, I just can't do it. More to the point, I don't really enjoy it anymore, the travelling part of it, either. No way of getting past that. They're welcome to the record. I'm just chuffed to get to 620. 706 is a lot of tournaments. 620 is a lot. I can't imagine 85 more. I don't have that in me I don't think. No, I'm happy as I can be. Had a great time, enjoyed it, but it's time to go.

Q. The friendships you made along the way, talk about those.

PAUL LAWRIE: Absolutely. I played with some players I thought I'd never play with, met a lot of lovely people, met some not so nice people. That's just life, isn't it. You try and not speak to the ones that you don't like and you give the ones you do like a bit of your time. That's just how it is, isn't it. I've been very lucky, absolutely loved it. The wins in Scotland were huge, which was nice.

Q. There's still 18 holes out there, but when you started it was a different type of game. When you look at the game now -- you've experienced so much.

PAUL LAWRIE: I'm kind of almost pleased that I'm 52 and not 22 the way it's going, to be honest. I mean, I would love to be 22 again right now with the technology and the fitness there and the physios and all the things you've got, but the game is going to keep changing now soon. It's just the way it's going. Technology has been unbelievable. The golf ball, the driver heads in my time has just gotten bigger and bigger and bigger and easier to hit and harder to shape. Golf ball is the same; golf ball just goes miles. I hit it the same distance now as I did when I was 22. Geez, my body is in bits and I'm still hitting it the same distance. It's amazing technology. But that is what it is and you've just got to crack on. It's not my job to change it or to make any difference, you just do what you're told and play.

Q. Talk about the memory of Carnoustie, the crowd cheering, tell us about that?

PAUL LAWRIE: Well, we thought that Leonard was in the bunker and not in the burn when we were there. Obviously I've told this story quite a few times. I asked the caddie and the caddie said I saw it bounce, which I did, too, so we assumed it's carried the burn and it's bounced and gone right in the bunker, but it hadn't, it bounced into the burn. So we didn't have any option I didn't think but to just stand up and pull the trigger on a 4-iron. It was a long way, but the adrenaline is flowing through you pretty good and you know that. You get used to how it works and how far it goes. Experience tells you that. Put a really good swing on it, off she hopped and she went right by the pin, which was lovely.