LONDON, 5 November 2003 — Peter Lawrie has made history by becoming the first Irish golfer to be named the European Tour’s rookie of the year since its inception in 1960, the tour said yesterday.
The 29-year-old Dubliner, who was selected by a panel comprising the European Tour, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and the Association of Golf Writers, finished 56th in the 2003 European Order of Merit. Yet to win his first European Tour title after being edged out by England’s Kenneth Ferrie in a playoff for the Canaries Spanish Open in April, Lawrie still ended the season with six top-20 finishes and earnings of 422,817 euros ($485,200).
Although Lawrie becomes the 39th recipient of this cherished award, it was not a vintage year for European rookies as the Dublin man missed 17 cuts in his 32 starts.
However Lawrie, who turned professional in 1997 but only graduated to the European Tour after winning last year’s Challenge Tour grand final, follows in the footsteps of players like Nick Faldo and Jose Maria Olazabal.
Six-time major winner Faldo won the European rookie of the year award in 1977 while twice US Masters champion Olazabal sealed the honor in 1986.
“This is a great accolade and, when you look at the great players who have won it in the past, it makes me feel very proud,” Lawrie, the 1996 Irish amateur champion, said in a statement.
China Pull Out of World Cup, Replaced by Thailand
China have withdrawn from this month’s World Cup of Golf due to a scheduling conflict involving one of their players, the Asian PGA Tour said yesterday.
First reserves Thailand, represented by Jamnian Chitprasong and Pornsakon Tipsanit, will take China’s place at the Nov. 13-16 competition, to be played on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island in the United States. China had been one of four countries — along with Myanmar, India and Hong Kong — to earn a spot at the 24-team World Cup in a Nations Cup qualifier in Singapore in September. Thailand, who tied for fifth at Singapore’s Laguna National Golf and Country Club, secured first reserve status after edging Sri Lanka in a playoff.
