Work in progress for Lawrie

IT'S safe to assume there is a lot on Paul Lawrie's mind at the moment, quite apart from anguishing over the chocolate-free diet that has seen him lose as much as 30 pounds in the first half of this year.

There's this week's Open Championship at Carnoustie, of course. In the build-up to the world's biggest and most important event returning to the fearsome Angus links, Lawrie has been everywhere in the media; to his credit, he has spoken to anyone and everyone about every aspect of his victory in 1999.

Then there's his recent change of coach. Adam Hunter is no more and Neil Marr is now the man in charge of the admirably rhythmic Lawrie action. And, as you'd expect, the changes the two are working on have yet to bed in. Which is why every Lawrie round over the past six weeks or so has been regularly punctuated by many slow-motion practice swings between shots.

And, of course, there is the Scottish Open Championship at Loch Lomond. One of only two Scots to make it through to the weekend - David Drysdale is the other - Lawrie teed off yesterday in the distinguished company of one Luke Donald. It was a Caledonian reunion of sorts. Much to the disgust of the English media, their boy Luke, the world No.9, is actually half-Scottish, his father hailing from Stranraer. You just knew there had to be a reason for his obvious talent, didn't you?

Anyway, the pair, both three under par for the opening two rounds, also made for a contrasting picture. While Lawrie is clearly a man whose swing is currently a work in progress, Donald's beautifully orthodox posture, set-up and motion are all seemingly effortless. Which just goes to underline the fact that golf can be played in an enormous variety of ways. And with anything from nothing to lots going on in a player's head.

Lawrie got off to a steady but variable start, if that is possible, saving par from sand left of the second green but frustratingly missing eminently makeable birdie putts at the third, fifth and sixth. Indeed, one can only hope that the five-footer Lawrie left short and left of the cup at the short fifth is the worst putt he hits all week. It was a shocker, even allowing for the fact that the bumpy and slow Loch Lomond greens have provoked much in the way of negative comment.

Better was to come, however, at the tough seventh. After a beautiful drive had split the fairway - and left Donald a distant 40 yards in its wake - Lawrie floated a nice approach in to about 15 feet and finally got himself under par for the day. Donald then did the same. The Englishman/Scot followed his companion in from maybe 12 feet to clinch their seventh "half" in succession. Had this been a head-to-head duel it would have been a helluva match.

Donald finally broke the deadlock when his par at the 12th was a shot better than Lawrie's bogey. And thereafter the previously inseparable duo went in different directions. Donald's birdie at the 14th doubled the gap, before a disastrous double bogey from Lawrie at the next hole sent his day into a tailspin reminiscent of Friday's second round when he followed an outward half of 32 with 39 shots on the way home. The drive he wheeched left into the water at the last only compounded his obvious frustration.

In the end, Lawrie had himself a disappointing 74 - four more than Donald - that hardly reflected the generally acceptable way he had struck the ball. The problem, as so often for a golfer working on his swing, was more the especially poor quality of his bad shots.

"That's just typical of my play lately," was his initial assessment. "While there was enough good there for me to shoot under par, I hit a couple of shots [he lost his ball from the 15th tee] off the charts. You can't make double bogeys out here and have a chance to win. It's disappointing really. I want to play well and win but it's just not happening."