Find Me A 100 Winner / Paul Krishnamurty / 30 September 2008 /

When the wind is howling and the rain comes down this Scotsman comes into his own.

The weather forecast for Scotland this week is not encouraging, and that could have profound implications for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Played over three classic links courses, this is always an event which tends to suit a specific set of players much more than the rest. Links golf is a refined art, and many players never get the hang of it. Its no coincidence that specialists like Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington make the frame here in most years.

This trend should be accentuated with bad weather. The one saving grace for links novices is that, as this is a pro-am, these great courses are never set up at their toughest. Make no mistake though, in wind and driving rain, St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns will show their teeth.

So if it's a bad weather links specialist that we're looking for, at [110.0] Paul Lawrie must rate on any shortlist. It must be a source of frustration for the 1999 Open champion that so many have labelled him as the 'worst Open/Major winner ever', because in fact he's proved that was no fluke on other occasions.

I'd never back Lawrie on a target golf course, or indeed any where the weather was expected to be good. But this Aberdonian has proven several times that he's a man to follow in such tough conditions. His last win, albeit six years ago, came in bad weather at Celtic Manor. And tellingly for this week, he won the inaugural Dunhill Links in similarly tough conditions, holing from the 'Valley of Sin' at St Andrews to thwart Els.

Nor was that Lawrie's only good effort in this event. Last year when conditions were nowhere near as bad, he again proved his suitablity for links with 4th place. Recent form is fair too, with 22nd and 16th on his last two starts perfectly respectable in much less suitable conditions.

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