Paul Lawrie learned barely a minute before it happened that he was hitting the first tee shot of the 1999 Ryder Cup on his debut, but doesn’t expect the same fate for his friend Stephen Gallacher.
“Give the opening shot to a rookie, by all means, but not maybe 30 seconds or so before he hits it. I wouldn’t recommend that,” said the two-time Team Europe Scot, recalling how Colin Montgomerie confirmed to him he was hitting the opening ball at Brookline as they went to the first tee together.
“But, after that shock, it was just an awesome experience. Especially away from home, when everyone there is just hoping that you top it or duff it!
“You’re just trying to make sure it gets airborne, to be honest. When you then hit a decent shot, it’s an awesome feeling.
“It would be nice if Stevie was in that first group on Friday, as the only Scot in the team. Imagine that, in front of a home crowd?
“It would be a nice touch. But it would have to fit in with what Paul (McGinley) wants to do, who he’s playing with.”
Lawrie believes that his close friend’s race to the wildcard spot was “nearly one of the performances of all time”.
He continued: “To go there needing that kind of finish, having won just three or four events on the tour, to go there knowing he has to equal his best ever? That takes a bit of doing.
“He ended up just one shot out and he’ll take a lot of heart from that. When you sit down and work out what you’ve got to do, the golf you’ve got to produce to qualify, it’s mind-boggling, some of the numbers you have to produce.
“The fact that he got within a shot of that, it’ll stand him in good stead when he actually gets there.”