Paul Lawrie hopes his hard work on the putting green starts to pay off in his second round of the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship at Trump International Links.
The 1999 Open champion carded a one-over-par 73 following dropped shots at the eighth and ninth before a solitary birdie at the par-three 16th.
He said: “I played solid, some pretty nice stuff.
“Yet again the putter was not the best.
“I hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in.
“At least I’m hitting some nice ones that didn’t go in as I have been hitting poor putts and missing.
“I have been working away over the last couple of weeks and it is definitely better.
“I am getting there with it.”
Lawrie is unsurprised by the positive reaction to the Dr Martin Hawtree course at the Menie Estate which is staging a Legends Tour event for the first time.
He said: “I think everyone who plays this course knows how good it is.
“They all know it is brilliant.
“It is just a stunning golf course and it is nice to let people see it.
“It will look great on the television, I guarantee that.
“It is a test but it is playable.
“It is a lovely day and this was probably as easy as you are going to get the course.
“It was definitely scoreable so I expected someone to be shooting four or five under.
“The course is wide enough to get it round but you have to hole putts and I was nowhere near doing that today – but maybe tomorrow.”
Andrew Oldcorn finished the day as top Scot following a stress-free two-under-par 70 with 16 pars and two birdies.
Aberdeen’s Scott Henderson also made a solid start with a level par 72 with a round which included five birdies and as many bogeys.
Greig Hutcheon has been enjoying a superb start to life on the Legends Tour and sits fifth on the order of merit following a runner-up finish at the Legends Trophy hosted by Simon Khan earlier this month.
He was frustrated after an opening round of one-over 73 and felt he had failed to take advantage of the reasonably benign conditions.
He said: “Seventy would have been a solid score.
“I feel I left a few out there.
“But it is unbelievable how quickly this course can catch you out. There is so much danger.
“I was playing alongside James Kingston and he was four under through 10 and finished up level par.
“There is plenty of trouble off the tee and you also have to be really careful with the slopes on these greens.
“I spun the ball off the green with wedge shots loads which was really frustrating.
“It was a poor day in terms of scoring.”
