Paul Lawrie lands title at Gleneagles

Paul Lawrie won his second title of the season with victory in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.

The 43-year-old Scot celebrated his Ryder Cup return with a four-stroke win over Australian Brett Rumford.

Lawrie, who won in Qatar in February, led overnight and shot 68 for his eighth European Tour title.

Nicolas Colsaerts needed a top-two finish to pip Martin Kaymer for the final Ryder Cup spot but ended 19th and will have to rely on a wildcard.

European Ryder Cup skipper Jose Maria Olazabal will name his two captain’s picks at 12:00 BST on Monday, with England’s Ian Poulter and big-hitting Belgian Colsaerts considered the leading contenders.

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, a six-time Ryder Cup veteran, is also in the mix but will need a strong finish in the Barclays tournament in New York on Sunday.

“I’d like to think that I am still in a pretty good position but I am very very tired,” Colsaerts said.

“It’s more mentally than physically. I have only taken one week off in the last nine weeks because I want to play the Ryder Cup so badly. And it has been a very long summer for me trying to get an automatic spot.”

Lawrie, who won the Open at Carnoustie in 1999, has rediscovered his passion for the game after slumping to 346th in the world back in 2005.

Earlier this week, the Aberdonian secured his return to the Ryder Cup for the first time since his debut in the infamous Brookline event in 1999.

“I felt better this week, I felt calmer, things didn’t bother me as they had the last couple of months,” said Lawrie, who was also joint second behind Luke Donald at the PGA Championship at Wentworth.

“It’s not easy. I wanted to be in that team so bad.”

Lawrie led Frenchman Romain Wattel by a stroke going into the final round and produced a consummate display of ball-striking and mental discipline to seal his third professional win on home soil.

“I missed a putt on each of the first five holes,” Lawrie said. “I could have been five under at the start, but I kept chugging away and showed patience. It’s been the most satisfying week.

“It’s been probably one of the best ball-striking weeks in my career. I putted pretty poorly today but still shot four under which showed how nicely I struck the ball.

“The course was wet and soft but I was hitting the ball long. And I am now playing the best golf of my career.”

Rumford carded 68, while Wattel took 72 to end 11 under with Sweden’s Fredrik Andersson Hed and Dutchman Maarten Lafeber.

Lawrie’s Ryder Cup team-mate Francesco Molinari of Italy was in a group on 10 under alongside previous European captain Colin Montgomerie and fellow Scots Richie Ramsay and Stephen Gallacher.

The tie for sixth gave the 49-year-old Montgomerie, the eight-time European number one, his best finish in more than four years.