Paul Lawrie beats McBain in play-off
15/06/2015
Paul Lawrie beat Greg McBain at the second extra hole of a sudden-death play-off to win the inaugural Scottish Par-Three Championship at the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre.
Lawrie catapulted himself to the top of the leaderboard with an impressive eight-under par, second round score of 46.
The tournament host had started the second day six shots adrift of overnight leaders Michael Stewart and Stephen Gray, following a one-over par opening round of 55.
Lawrie went on the offensive early on day two as he surged to three-under after three holes.
A further two birdies at holes 7 and 9 saw Lawrie reach the turn in 22 (-5). After picking-up another five shots to par on the back nine (holes 10, 12, 14, 15 & 16), he stood on the 17th tee at -10 and proceeded to drop a shot at each of his closing two holes.
Lawrie's seven-under total of 101 set the clubhouse target.
Greg McBain, one of several Foundation supported professionals in the field, added to his first round effort (-2) by carding a second round score of five-under, to tie Paul's total.
Neither Michael Stewart nor Stephen Gray managed better than par and finished in a tie for third place on 103 (-5), alongside 16-year-old amateur and Foundation player Sam Locke.
Locke's impressive rounds of 53 and 50 saw the youngster win the leading amateur prize but more importantly gave Sam some great experience playing alongside seasoned tournament professionals like Alastair Forsyth, Michael Stewart and Neil Fenwick over the course of the 36-hole event.
The play-off between Lawrie and McBain on the ninth was decided at the second time of asking, after they halved in par the first time around.
On the second play-off hole, Lawrie hit his tee shot to 7ft and holed for a two after McBain failed to find the putting surface from the tee, chipped and missed his return putt.
John Duff and Graham Fox each achieved a hole-in-one and received £1,000 apiece. John's came at the 7th hole of his second round and Graham's on his 36th hole of the championship.
