Paul Lawrie, the 1999 Open champion, twi-time Ryder Cup player and one of the foremost promoters of junior golf in Europe, has agreed to act as captain to the European Junior Ryder Cup team at the 2020 event in Wisconsin next September.
The eight-time European Tour winner played in both the 1999 Ryder Cup and was a member of the 2012 “Miracle at Medinah” team that came from four points down to win on American soil in the course just outside Chicago.
He’ll return to the US Midwest for this year’s Junior matches to be played at Blue Mound Golf and Country Club in Milwaukee, just a few miles from the senior contest between Europe and the USA at Whistling Straits.
But it’s the 50-year-old’s long-time involvement in junior golf that makes him the ideal choice for the role, having started in 2001 with the launch of the Paul Lawrie Foundation, which provides opportunities for juniors in the North East of Scotland to start playing golf.
“As soon as the call came in, I didn’t need long to think about taking on the role,” said Lawrie. “To be able to lead a team of the best juniors in Europe against America will be a completely novel experience for me. In terms of how I see the game growing, it’s an important role.
“It’s going to be full-on over the next ten months. I’m really looking forward to getting to some events during the year and watching the kids play. I’m absolutely delighted that I have been asked to be captain.
“My wife, Marian, and I started the Foundation to get as many kids into the game as we possibly could. I bring a huge enthusiasm for junior golf to the role; it’s where the game needs to be – sadly that still gets lost on some members at golf clubs not treating juniors how they deserve to be treated.
“Today’s juniors are tomorrow’s adults, and that’s an important message.”
The Junior Ryder Cup is a mixed event featuring the best male and female junior amateurs from Europe and the United States.
Held in the week before the main Ryder Cup, the junior contest has seen many stars go on to The Ryder Cup and the Solheim Cups.
Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy both succeeded in the event before also winning The Ryder Cup, while Suzanne Peterson and Carlota Ciganda both triumphed as amateurs before lifting the Solheim Cup.
