Another year and another major snub for Lawrie

Yet even the imminent return to Carnoustie, where he claimed The Open in 1999, has not prevented yet another snub being delivered to Paul Lawrie.

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Overlooked: Paul Lawrie

It is Wednesday afternoon at Loch Lomond and the great and the good among the professionals competing in the Barclays Scottish Open are swanning around the course being nice to the guests of the sponsors in the pro-am.

Lawrie, however, is on the practice ground working on his game. For the second year running, the last Claret Jug winner these isles have produced was left on the outside looking in.

The sponsors have 20 invitations to dish out among the 28 spots reserved for pros and places were quite rightly found for former Open champions like Tom Lehman and Sandy Lyle and a former U.S. PGA winner in American Shaun Micheel.

It is all about affording major winners the respect they deserve. So why is no respect shown to Lawrie, for heaven's sake?

Getting an official explanation from Barclays proved elusive, alas, while Lawrie was reluctant to comment. The Scot is probably getting used to it.

As he told this newspaper this time last year: "It's scandalous really, but what can you do?"

And what is one more snub when you've had eight years' worth? Everyone prepares in their own way for The Open. Vijay Singh is playing practice rounds each day at Carnoustie.

Padraig Harrington is playing in the Irish PGA Championship for the sole reason that it is being held on a links course, which he believes will help him get attuned to seaside golf.

Many others see virtue in competing here in what is a huge tournament in its own right, with their number led by the world No 3 Phil Mickelson.

The American has recovered from the wrist injury that wrecked his dream of winning last month's U.S. Open and, as is his way these days, has already put in a weekend of reconnaissance work at Carnoustie.

"I hadn't realised what a wonderful course it is," he said, perhaps alluding to the way its greatness was hidden amid swathes of unnecessary rough last time.

"It gives the players a chance to separate themselves from the field with their shotmaking."

Mickelson has a terrible record at The Open for a player of his calibre, with only one top 10 finish. This is mostly because he neither understood it nor enjoyed it.

But that has all changed. "I think links golf is tremendous," he said. "Over the last couple of years I have been working hard on controlling my ball flight in the wind."

The honeymoon is literally over for world No 9 Luke Donald following a three-week break during which he got married on the Greek island of Santorini.

After the plate smashing, the moonlit cruise and then two weeks among the beautiful people in the swish Sardinian resort of Costa Smeralda, the 29-year-old Englishman has turned his mind to winning next week's gold medal to go with his new gold ring.

"Everything went amazingly well, with all we envisaged coming to life," said Donald. "Sergio was there and David Howell as well. He was too injured to play golf, so he thought he would pickle his liver instead."

Donald normally does well in Hawaii in January in his first event back after a winter break, so the lay-off shouldn't affect his chances here, where he finished runner-up last year and fifth the year before.

"I think this course suits my eye," he said.

After all that has happened to him in the real world, it is nice to see Darren Clarke with a glint in his eye.

He declared yesterday that he felt like a kid again, so desperate was he to play, which is a sign that time is healing some of his wounds.

Clarke, whose wife Heather died from cancer 11 months ago, said: "I've been struggling, my two boys have been struggling, but things are turning round a little now and consequently I feel a lot happier about what I am doing."

The Ulsterman could do with replicating his top-five finish here last year. He is, would you believe, now down to 128th in the world and needs to clamber back into the top 100 to make the field for next month's fourth major, the U.S. PGA Championship.

Colin Montgomerie, as you can imagine, also feels like a kid after his inspiring victory in last week's European Open. Organising yesterday's media commitments with his manager, Guy Kinnings, Monty said: "Do you think a couple of hours will be enough?"

A 75 today and it will be more like two seconds.