Peter Lawrie's Bavarian Rhapsody
Bernd Wiesberger. Picture: Getty Images
Fighting off wild animals armed with nothing more than a nail clippers is considered foolhardy — a bit like Peter Lawrie trying to regain his tour card with a stick of deodorant, a toothbrush and a spare pair of underpants.
Lawrie didn't do it deliberately, of course, which is why the Dubliner was delighted to get into the Porsche European Open at the last minute and tben shoot a 69 with a hastily built set of clubs.
Having failed to get the Top 10 finished he need in Italy last week to get into the German event automatically, (he was 14th), the 41-year old Dubliner headed to Hermany believing his next event might be the Alfred Dunhill Links, providing the umpteenth invitation of the season was forthcoming.
He was to attend a Tournament Players Committee meeting in Germany with the vague hope that Tour's request that he get an invitation for the event might prosper. But that failed and he travelled anyway, armed with nothing more than an overnight bag and zero expectations about playing.
In the end, Murphy's Law struck again and he snuck into the field as the last man — a situation that has become all too familiar as he battles to regain his card by getting into fields from his poor ranking or via a slew of invitations.
And he could not have been happier to shoot a two under 69 that left him just inside the cut mark, a stroke behind Graeme McDowell's 68 and six off the lead
Explaining that returning home for his clubs wasn’t a sensible option and that it was too late to have them sent by courier, Lawrie said: “I just settled and got the exact same set built up…. Every week it seems I am getting in through my ranking on a Monday or Tuesday and it’s crazy. You can’t make a schedule. You just can’t do anything.
"Have clubs will travel. I said it at the start of the year and I will keep saying it. I will play wherever I can play until I get over the line. I shot 69 this morning so I am delighted.”
Lawrie arrived in Germany in 111th in the Race to Dubai, €2,475 and one place outside the Top 110 who will have full playing rights in 2016.
He will need to make the cut this week and then play well in Scotland to regain his card. But he's certainly not downbeat and a round featuring five birdies and three bogeys shows he's got the game to survive.
As McDowell shot 68 to share 40th, a late double bogey seven costing him a top 20 placing, Kevin Phelan and Michael Hoey shot a one under 70s, Damien McGrane a level par 71 and Simon Thornton a six over 77.
Co-leader Bernd Wiesberger took full advantage of the perfect conditions at Golf Club Bad Griesbach as he continued his fine summer form with a seven under par opening round of 64
The Alstom Open de France champion has set his sights on another prestigious European Tour title, and he made a strong start in Germany, carding three birdies in his final four holes to join Frenchman Benjamin Hebert at the top of the leaderboard following a bogey free round.
The pair are a shot clear of a group of four players, which includes Australian Richard Green who last week raced his own Porsche in the Norwegian GT3 National Series. Green is joined in a share of third position by his playing partner Richard Bland, of England, South African Darren Ficardt and another Englishman, Graeme Storm.
Course designer and German golfing legend Bernhard Langer is a further shot back on five under after a round of 66, the same total as American Hunter Mahan.
Meanwhile, former US Open champion McDowell returned to action for the first time since the US PGA Championship with an encouraging three under par round of 68.
The Northern Irishman posted five birdies in his opening 12 holes to reach the top of the leaderboard, but ran into trouble on his penultimate hole - the eighth – which ultimately led to a double bogey seven. He is three shots off the pace in a share of 34th position.
“After five weeks off, coming back for the first time with a card in your pocket, you’d always take a start like that,” McDowell said.
“I suppose it happened in disappointing circumstances, playing very well through 12 holes and making my two best swings of the day on five and six (his 14th and 15th) and missing those two putts, then I’m stood on the eighth tee, the par five, and I tried to hit one a little too hard.
"That is what this golf course has as a defence. You start missing shots and the rough is firm and the ball gets away into trouble. But all in all I’ll take that as a good start and I look forward to getting back out there tomorrow.”
Porsche European Open
64 B Hebert (Fra), B Wiesberger (Aut),
65 G Storm (Eng), R Green (Aus), R Bland (Eng), D Fichardt (RSA),
66 R Karlsson (Swe), R Finch (Eng), D Lipsky (USA), S Kjeldsen (Den), C Schwartzel (RSA), B Langer (Ger), R McEvoy (Eng), J Parry (Eng), O Fisher (Eng), J Edfors (Swe), H Mahan (USA), F Fritsch (Ger),
67 P Edberg (Swe), D Horsey (Eng), N Fasth (Swe), J Donaldson (Wal), R Fisher (Eng), H Otto (RSA), T Fisher Jnr (RSA), M Jiménez (Esp), M Carlsson (Swe), B Ritthammer (Ger), P Whiteford (Sco), C Paisley (Eng), J Morrison (Eng), J Walters (RSA), T Lewis (Eng),
68 L Bjerregaard (Den), P Hanson (Swe), C Wood (Eng), B An (Kor), L Slattery (Eng), T Jaidee (Tha), G McDowell (Nir), T Fleetwood (Eng), R Karlberg (Swe), B Evans (Eng), A Tadini (Ita), S Benson (Eng), S Jamieson (Sco), P Uihlein (USA), J Garcia Pinto (Esp), P Mejow (Ger), A Hortal (Esp), S Kapur (Ind), D Woltman (USA), M Kieffer (Ger), B Dredge (Wal), V Riu (Fra), L Jensen (Den),
69 S Hend (Aus), R Gonzalez (Arg), M Fraser (Aus), K Broberg (Swe), P Lawrie (Irl), M Warren (Sco), S Wakefield (Eng), C Bouniol (Fra), G Havret (Fra), J Luiten (Ned), A Hansen (Den), J Scrivener (Aus), M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), M Schneider (Ger), P Maddy (Eng), M Ilonen (Fin), E Espana (Fra),
70 K Ferrie (Eng), A Choi (Can), M Orrin (Eng), M Bremner (RSA), J Quesne (Fra), S Einhaus (Ger), C Lee (Sco), J Lagergren (Swe), T Van Der Walt (RSA), N Elvira (Esp), M Korhonen (Fin), R Jacquelin (Fra), S Heisele (Ger), E De La Riva (Esp), F Zanotti (Par), T Olesen (Den), K Phelan (Irl), A Dodt (Aus), M Hoey (Nir), F Aguilar (Chi), A Cañizares (Esp), M Tullo (Chi), M Lundberg (Swe), A Quiros (Esp),
71 Y Yang (Kor), D McGrane (Irl), G Mulroy (RSA), R Cabrera-Bello (Esp), S Hansen (Den), G Stal (Fra), M Nixon (Eng), B Neumayer (Aut), J Singh (Ind), R Santos (Por), M Ford (Eng),
72 A Otaegui (Esp), A Levy (Fra), N Colsaerts (Bel), J Carlsson (Swe), W Ormsby (Aus), A Velasco (Esp), S Manley (Wal), J Roos (RSA), P Oriol (Esp), G Bourdy (Fra), K Aphibarnrat (Tha), R Wattel (Fra), J Van Zyl (RSA), T Murray (Eng), A Wall (Eng), D Howell (Eng),
73 J Campillo (Esp), E Molinari (Ita), C Doak (Sco), S Hutsby (Eng), P Larrazábal (Esp), O Farr (Wal), A Saddier (Fra), A Pavan (Ita), M Lampert (Ger), M Rottluff (am) (Ger), W Starke (am) (USA),
74 E Goya (Arg), M Manassero (Ita), R Paratore (Ita), P Archer (Eng), J Kruger (RSA),
75 O Wilson (Eng), M Grönberg (Swe), D Gaunt (Aus), J Lando Casanova (Fra), S Gallacher (Sco),
76 M Crespi (Ita), M Foster (Eng), S Jaeger (Ger),
77 J Barnes (Eng), D Brooks (Eng), C Lloyd (Eng), S Thornton (Irl),
78 M Hoffmann (USA), S Dodd (Wal),
79 T Levet (Fra),
84 S Strüver (Ger)
