Lawrie load of joy

Ewen Murray on how Peter Lawrie kept Irish eyes smiling and how YOU made a difference to Darren Clarke.

Three in a row for Ireland could bring forth the 'new fifth major'

The sun shone in southern Spain for four days and the Spanish Open, played on Jose Maria Olazabal's creation was an outstanding success. Sadly, for the thousands of fans, there was to be no home winner and congratulations to Dublin's Peter Lawrie on his maiden European Tour win. The tournament executive last week was the Tour's Miguel Viador and he should feel very proud of the way he set up this fine golf course. It was all but perfect with rough penalising any errant drive, tight pin positions asking tough questions regarding approach shots and greens that ran at just over 11 on the stimpmeter. It was no surprise that we enjoyed a thrilling finish. So many had chances on Sunday, but credit to Peter, he was the one who took the championship by the scruff of the neck and his run of birdies over the closing stretch made him a worthy winner. The huge gallery obviously wanted Ignacio Garrido to win, as did his watching father, former Tour, and Ryder Cup stalwart, Antonio. It was not to be and so we still await the first father and son winners since the Tour began in the early seventies. With the European Tour now on home ground for the summer, it's an exciting time of the season, especially as it is Ryder Cup year. In three weeks time, the classy showcase event of the tour comes home to Wentworth.

Prestigious

The BMW PGA Championship is one of golf's great tournaments, and from next season, it will be part of Sky Sports expanding golf coverage. From 2009, we will also have the British Masters, the Barclays Scottish Open from Loch Lomond, and the prestigious World Match Play which began with Arnold Palmer's victory over Neil Coles back in 1964. These events compliment nicely the world coverage Sky Sports already has and we are looking forward to bringing them to you in the future. Stateside, the Players Championship gets underway this week at famed Sawgrass. Sadly one of the best tournaments in the game has lost much of its appeal because of a switch of dates to accommodate the FedEx Cup. There is no doubt there is a lot of truth in the saying, leave things that are well alone. Since 1982, the players has been the curtain raiser of the golfing year, played a couple of weeks before the Masters. Now it is in the middle of average tournaments and is in danger of drifting into being just that. Down the years, there have been some dramatic moments on Pete Dye's infamous 17th and I'm sure there will be this year. After the disappointing showing of our own players at Augusta, let's hope they have a better week in Ponte Vedra. We shall reflect on that next week. Congratulations to 15-year-old Scot, Carly Booth. Carly becomes the youngest Curtis Cup player and believe me, she will make a big impact against the Americans. At the tender age of 11, she won the ladies club championship at her home club and since then has gone on to set all sort of records. From a sporting family, there is no danger of Carly doing a Michelle Wie. She is mature beyond her years and has had the correct guidance from her former wrestler father and elder brother, who is contemplating turning pro at the end of the year. I suspect I'm not alone in looking forward to her, and her country's performance at the end of the month on the hallowed turf of St Andrews

Congratulations

Through this column and on behalf of Darren Clarke, I wish to thank all of those who sent emails of congratulations after his emotional win in Shanghai. All of the Golf Night emails and the ones you sent to skysports.com were printed in Seville and handed to him during last week's event. He has read them all. Those who had experienced similar tragedy in their lives said they had gained strength from his comeback and its fair to say Darren felt the same through your words. He did not win last week although a last round 65 would have done the trick. This week, he will continue his work with his bio mechanic, Rob Watts. Rob is a professional golfer from Surrey, and his hard work has had much to do with Darren's return to form. He has given him more elasticity which in turn has enabled him to make the swing changes quicker. His next tournament is the Irish Open at Adare Manor. With Ireland's stars winning the last three events on the European Tour, golf in the Emerald Isle is on a high. Graeme McDowell has won in Italy before and after a promising start to the season, he will be looking for continued success. Should Graeme, or any other player from Ireland win this week, the Irish Open next week promises to be the fifth major!