Jose Maria Olazabal has revealed he expects Paul Lawrie to be in his plans for the European Ryder Cup team this year.
The Europe captain, whose team are 1/1 to retain their title with bookmaker, admits Lawrie is playing himself into contention. The former Open Champion’s performances have been a revelation this year, the Scot recording six top-ten finishes so far, including finishing joint-second at Wentworth last week.
Lawrie himself says that qualifying for the 2012 Ryder Cup would mark the pinnacle of his professional career and Olazabal believes he has proven himself in recent weeks.
He told Associated Press: “I think Paul’s pretty much in after what he did last week.
“If he plays just decent golf from now on, I think he is pretty much in the team. He proved last week that he must have played really well to shoot 6-under par (66) in the last round and finish second on that golf course, which is a huge challenge.”