David Law is determined not to be distracted by the prestige surrounding his major debut at this week’s Open Championship.
Law is among three Scots competing at the much-anticipated 150th staging of the tournament at St Andrews, along with fellow Aberdonian Paul Lawrie and Oban’s Robert MacIntyre.
He secured his place at the Open just a fortnight ago, after finishing tied fourth at the Phoenix Irish Open.
Law will tee off at 2.15pm on Thursday, having been drawn with Japan’s Shugo Imahira and Australian Jason Scrivener.
With a record-breaking 290,000 fans attending the tournament across the full week, the excitement is already palpable throughout the town.
Law, who arrived fresh from finishing tied 47th at the Genesis Scottish Open at Renaissance, is keen to keep the process normal ahead of his first major outing.
Law said: “It’s a really special one to play as my first major. If you were to pick one it would be The Open, and if you were to pick one particular Open it would be at St Andrews.
“It’s a really special one. You can feel the buzz and the vibe around the tournament.
“The first time I was here was 2010 when I played the St Andrews Links Trophy, very unsuccessfully.
“We came to the Dunhill Links when I was young, and I was at the Open here in 2015 when play was stopped on the Friday afternoon.
“It’s a fine line between really enjoying the week, but first and foremost I’m here to compete.
“I’m trying to find the balance as I want to enjoy every minute, but at the same time I’m preparing to play a golf tournament.”
Practice round with 1999 champion Lawrie valuable part of Law’s build-up
Law played a practice round on Tuesday alongside Lawrie, who is his manager and mentor, and Englishman Alex Wrigley.
Lawrie, who won the tournament in 1999 at Carnoustie, will be the first to tee off at 6.35am on Thursday.
Law says the chance to play the Old Course with Lawrie ahead of the event added to the occasion.
The 31-year-old added: “It’s just nice to be here and it was good to play with Paul as well.
“He has helped me out since I was 14, so it’s special to play in a major tournament he is competing in as well.
“Whether it’s things he has said or done, I am always learning and trying to pick up on the things he does.
“He has said to me right from the start, on the Challenge Tour and then European Tour, that I’m here to compete because I deserve to be here.”
Major Debut 🏴😍@DavidLawGolf out on the course early this morning preparing for a memborable week #The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/mIrVtfbxUo
— 5star sports agency (@5starsportsA) July 12, 2022
Law keen to avoid burn-out ahead of start of tournament
Having played back-to-back events on the DP World Tour, Law says the bulk of his on-course work is now done ahead of the start of the tournament.
He added: “I’m mindful that I don’t really want to do too much, as I have played the last two weeks.
“It’s going to be windy on Wednesday so there’s no point in beating myself up out there.
“If it was to be like that during the tournament I might go out and play a few, but I don’t see the point in it.
“I needed to see the golf course but it was probably a bit too windy to play, because it’s not going to be like that during the tournament.
“A younger me might have been playing 18 holes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and then be burnt out by the time the tournament starts.
“To play 18 today is enough for me.
“The wind direction is the same as it’s going to be in the tournament.
“This is more difficult than it will be in the tournament, so it’s probably good practice to get out there and see what it’s like, and see the real extremes of how the course is playing.
“The course is playing really firm – it is brick hard.
“We discussed that it was difficult to even take bunkers out of play because you can’t predict, it might run 60 yards along the ground.
“It’s a completely different test to most weeks. Luckily last week it was really similar in terms of balls running a long way. It was tough to stop the ball on the greens.
“It was a good run out, and a good warm-up for this week.”
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