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SALTIRE ENERGY PAUL LAWRIE MATCH PLAY

July 31, 2015

Paul Lawrie

Aberdeen, Scotland

PAUL LAWRIE: Well, I played horrendous today. Hit it really, really poorly. And you can't get off with hitting the ball as poorly as that. Made no putts, really. Hit the ball, oh -- can't hit the ball any worse than that to be fair but all the best to Chris. Dug in. The two of us didn't play very well. We were all over the place at times and he made the 4 he needed to make at the last. That's match play.

Q. Have you ever quite been as far apart in tee shots in match play?
PAUL LAWRIE: That happens all the time. He's 40 or 50 right and I'm 40 or 50 left. That's nothing unusual to be fair. Happens all the time.

Q. Obviously you'd loved to be here, get further and further in the tournament.
PAUL LAWRIE: That would be an understatement. Yeah, obviously disappointed, gutted. But when you play like that at this kind of level, you very kind of seldom get off with it. No qualms about it. It's just how it is.

Q. You seemed to hit it very well yesterday.
PAUL LAWRIE: I hit it nicely yesterday. I was in total control yesterday, yeah. Hit the ball well. Had a nice flight on it.

Today got off to a decent start. Birdied the second. A couple of poor shots, 4, 5, got unlucky at 6 really and just hit some really, really poor shots at the turn.

Q. Mainly from the tee?
PAUL LAWRIE: No, just the whole thing. Didn't feel comfortable at all today. Couldn't get the club away from the ball at the right speed when I'd been doing pretty well. It felt fast off it. Change over was slow. I like the club off the ball slow, and then you know, kind of change over slow and hit it at the bottom. But today just couldn't. One of those days, just couldn't get it.

Q. How surprised were you by that, given how well you played yesterday? You were in great form yesterday.
PAUL LAWRIE: Well, not surprised at all because every day is different. When you play golf as long as I've been, you're not going to play good every day, I understand that. But Chris holed out very well, which is what you've got to do. And he holed three or four or five putts just to keep it going, and which is what you've got to do. That's why he's still in and I'm out. He's held the putts he had to and fair play. That's what golf is. You have to get the ball in the hole.

Q. At the 12th, was that as big as any --
PAUL LAWRIE: He's holed three or four of those and a couple like 17. He's made a hell of a 4 up 17. That's what you have to do in that situation and you're ahead and you're not hitting it your best. You have to hole the putts to keep going and that's what he did. Every credit.

Q. We thought it was out-of-bounds -- you obviously know it was not up that right-hand side?
PAUL LAWRIE: I think he was in one of the bunkers on the other course, and got a free drop. I knew there was no OB but I actually thought it was a little further right than that to be fair when the flight of it came off. But great 4. So fair play.

Q. Do you want a wry smile when you saw your lie in the bunker and produced a tremendous shot?
PAUL LAWRIE: Even a half-decent lie, you've got a chance of holing it. From there I fancied my chances to give it a real go from there but horrendous lie so it was a hell of a shot to get it to three feet. Not much you can do.

Q. What are your thoughts on bowing out of your own championship?
PAUL LAWRIE: Well, obviously disappointed. Gutted. But didn't play very well today. I hit the ball really poorly. Struggled all day with ball-striking. Didn't hole any putts that I had to hole to be fair and Chris did. Both of us played pretty poor. If it had been a match of ball-striking today, would have been a spectacle to be fair.

It was pretty poor in places. He's holed three or four putts that you have to hole to keep matches going when you're up or when you're one or two ahead. So fair play. He's the boy that's going to be playing tomorrow and deserves to be playing tomorrow.

But disappointed. Obviously I wanted to be a little bit further this week. Felt I was playing good and in control of my game, but today I kind of just didn't have it.

Q. Having said that, joy isn't the word, but have you taken a lot out of playing this event, staging this event?
PAUL LAWRIE: Well, when you're competitive, you're competitive. Right now, I'm as you can tell not the happiest man in the world. But that's how it is. When you're competitive and you want to win, when you get beat, you're not happy.

But you've got to kind of still kind of do your stuff. And obviously Chris is a great lad. We had a good time out there. We had a good giggle. He burst out laughing when he hit his tee shot at the last; it was so far right. I knew there was no OB there having played this course quite a bit. But that's how it is.

People can obviously find it hard to smile and be happy when you're not playing well but you need to get a little better mentally to be able to do that.

Q. Do you feel you have to smile and be happy across the weekend? Will we see you back here?
PAUL LAWRIE: Absolutely. I'll be here every day. I'll be in the sponsor's pavilion looking after them because it's not just about me playing this week. I'm hosting. My name is on the title so it's very important that everyone comes and enjoys it and has a good day, and I'll be in there doing my bit.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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