Local boy makes good Lawrie fufills lifelong dream winning British Open Click here for more on this story Posted: Sunday July 18, 1999 06:43 PM   Ranked 159th in the world coming into Carnoustie, Lawrie will probably jump around 100 places in the new rankings. AP CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (Reuters) -- Paul Lawrie became the a Scotland hero on Sunday when he realised a boyhood dream by sinking a four-foot putt to win the British Open. The 30-year-old Scot from Aberdeen, 50 miles (80 km) up the eastern Scottish coast from Carnoustie, fired a four-under-par 67 then waited 1 1/2 hours to find that he had reached a playoff when Jean Van De Velde of France triple-bogeyed the final hole. To huge cheers from his countrymen, Lawrie won the four-hole playoff by three shots from the Frenchman and from Justin Leonard, 1997 champion, but he had realised when he finished his own round that a play-off was an outside possibiity. "I was on the putting green when Jean was playing the last and I kept asking what was going on. But I'd hit some shots, done some chipping, done some putting. I was set to go," he said. His coach Adam Hunter told him: "Focus on what you're doing. Hit your putts, do your thing. If you get into a play-off you've got to be ready to be there." The first two of the four holes were close as all three players made mistakes but Lawrie went ahead with a birdie at the third, the 17th at Carnoustie, and rolled his second shot at the last up to four feet. By the time the other two had bogeyed the hole, Lawrie had it sewn up. But like so many before him he had dreamed of a four-foot putt to win the Open and he made no mistake with this one. "You don't want to miss the putt on the last green to win the Open. I stroked it pretty nice and in it popped," he said. "It's just an incredible feeling. It hasn't sunk in yet." Lawrie has won only two events in his European Tour career but one of them was this year's Qatar Masters. Lawrie was ranked 159th in the world coming into this event and he will probably rise around 100 places when the new rankings are issued on Monday. He has also earned a place on the European Ryder Cup team to defend the trophy against the United States at Brookline in September. "That's nice then. We're going to the Ryder Cup. I'm obviouly delighted." The Scot most would have expected to succeed was Colin Montgomerie, the world number five who has never won a major. "I would think he will be very happy for me. I get on very well with Monty. Colin is a great guy. I'm sure he'll be chuffed [pleased] for me." Lawrie, a devoted family man, then left to drive home to celebrate with his wife Marian and their two sons, four-year-old Craig and seventh-month-old Michael.   Related information Stories Leaders' Scorecards Scot wins British Open in four-hole playoff French Farce: Van de Velde shoots 7 on the final hole Van de Velde shrugs off 18th hole disaster Leonard sad about losing but sadder for Frenchman Multimedia Click here for the latest audio and video Search our site Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV. Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.