Despite Paul Lawrie slipping up in Spain former Ryder Cup captain, Sam Torrance says his fellow Scot will be an important ‘floater’ at Medinah.
Lawrie looked headed for a place in the final of the Volvo World Match-Play Championship leading eventual champion, Nicolas Colsaerts 4up early in their semi-final encounter.
However the big-hitting Belguium, who has moved to 10th overall on the Ryder Cup points table, fought back to win the match in extra time.
But despite the disappointment Lawrie picked up a place to fourth on the points table to further cement his place on the flight later this year to Chicago.
And Torrance, who was calling the Spanish action for the Golf Channel, has already seen enough of the rejuvenated Lawrie to suggest he’s a must for either automatic selection or if not, deserving of a ‘Captain’s’ pick.
“It’s been a fantastic resurgence on Paul’s part in recent months,” said Torrance.
“For starters his swing looks better to me than it’s ever been before. He’s got a great head and he would make a fantastic European Team member.
“He’s got a lot of balls and he can stand up in a fight and not scared of anyone.
“We saw that when he teed up first at Brookline in ’99 and paired with Monty. He took the first tee shot of that Ryder Cup without any question.
“That was a big task for anyone to go out with Monty in his first Ryder Cup. He is just so very solid.
“He’s got a great all round game.”
If the team were picked today Lawrie, at 43-years of age would be the oldest on the team, and an important ‘floater’ as Torrance called the older members of hit 2002 Belfy winning side.
Torrance said: “You are going to need a couple and you generally are always going to get a couple.
“I had about four ‘floaters’ in my team. I called them ‘floaters’ as I could pair them with anyone.
“Of course, Monty was one. Lee Westwood was another and Sergio Garcia was another, and even though his game wasn’t all that good.
“So I would class Paul as a ‘floater’ as Jose Maria (Olazabal) could pair him with a rookie or one of the more experienced players.
“As a captain, you keep an eye on every tournament and try to see how everyone is performing.
“And an event like last week’s match-play is important especially if you are coming down to the last few holes as you want to judge how someone handles the situation.”
