Former Open champion Paul Lawrie says he has gone great lengths to brief protege Sam Locke on what to expect in this week’s Chamionship at Carnoustie.
Aberdeen’s Lawrie, who won the event at Carnoustie in 1999, is missing out for the first time since due to a long-running foot injury.
Lawrie’s focus will instead be on 19-year-old amateur Locke, from Stonehaven, who took one of secured one of three Open places up for grabs from the qualifying event at Renaissance earlier this month.
Locke is a product of Paul Lawrie’s foundation, and Lawrie said: “He’s a great kid. He’s the Scottish Amateur champion, he’s going to be a really good player but then we are trying to play that down a wee bit at the moment as he we don’t want to see him get ahead of himself.
“We have to remember he is an amateur and playing in the Open for a first time, so I sat down with him and had a really long chat about what’s coming-up in teeing-up in an Open and how he should manage his practice rounds and what he will need to deal with.
“He is clearly keen to take in the whole atmosphere in what will be the biggest event he’s played in but he must get his head around it.
“He plays his golf, he undertakes a little bit of practice. He can’t hang about these tournaments with stars in his eyes, so it’s all about getting that through to him and into his head.
“But he can play golf and we are really excited he can cope with the pressure and all that goes with teeing-up in the Open.”
Lawrie is wary of overloading Locke with advice, with the 49-year-old adding: “Sam has a practice round on Monday when I am going to walk around with him and try and share with him what I know about the course and then I will leave him to pretty much get on with it.”
