Paul Lawrie will head to Hoylake with a spring in his step after a closing five-under par 66 in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
The Aberdonian finished the tournament on three under thanks to an excellent round, which could have been even better had he not dropped shots on two of the final four holes.
But it is a welcome return to form for Lawrie ahead of this week’s Open championship at Royal Liverpool.
He said: “Everyone would understand I was looking to get into contention, but it is nice to finish with five-under-par and set myself up for hopefully a good week next week.
“I have not played Hoylake since we were last there in 2006. I hear it is a little softer which wouldn’t be difficult as last time was really hard and firm.
“I imagine it will be magnificent as it is a really good course and I enjoyed it the last time.
“Nobody knows how they are going to play before they get there but I have been swinging it really well in the last couple of weeks so if I can do that and putt like I did today then who knows?”
Lawrie has voiced his frustrations at his poor putting in recent weeks but a new short stick in the bag appeared to do the trick at Royal Aberdeen yesterday – particularly on a superb run from the third to the sixth in which he birdied every hole.
He said: “I don’t know how many putts I had today but it was certainly much better. That always makes the difference. There was no wind so the course was reasonably easy but you still have to play. It is not as though it is an easy course but the conditions were easy.
“It will be my usual preparation for the Open. I am going down to Hoylake on Tuesday morning. I will play nine or 10 holes on Tuesday afternoon and then the whole course on Wednesday morning – I am looking forward to it.”