THE OPEN RELATED STORIES The Open Home Page The Open Scores Round 4: Padraig Harrington wins Open in playoff Round 4: Late bogeys cost Romero The Open Round 4: No final round charge from Tiger Woods Round 4: Richard Green equals course record Round 4: 18th at Carnoustie strikes again Round 3: Sergio Garcia in sight of first major title Round 3: Justin Rose boosted by round of 67 Round 3: Late problems cost Ian Poulter dear Round 3: Tiger Woods shoots 69 but still eight back Round 3: Chris DiMarco back in the mix after a 65 Round 3: Steve Stricker shoots course record Round 2: Sergio Garcia holds on to lead on Friday Round 2: Rory McIlroy claims Silver Medal Round 2: Garcia not bothered when he wins major Round 2: Phil Mickelson struggles and misses cut Round 2: Tiger Woods still in the hunt despite 74 Round 2: Weir jumps into contention with round of 68 Round 1: Sergio Garcia leads with opening 65 Round 1: David Howell happy with eventful 72 Round 1: KJ Choi happy despite late bogeys Round 1: Inspired Michael Campbell shoots 68 Round 1: Ruling overshadows Tiger's round Round 1: Last minute tip helps McGinley to a 67 Round 1: Amateur Rory McIlroy scores a 68 Top 20 favourites for the Open Tiger Woods targets third straight Open title Paul Lawrie returns to site of famous victory Colin Montgomerie backs European winner Draw for first & second rounds Seve Ballesteros retires from golf Jean Van de Velde suffering from unknown illness Wild weather day at Carnoustie Jim Furyk enjoys his low profile Phil Mickelson not worried about driving problems Peter Fowler aims to get career back on track Nick Faldo fears for "nice" Europeans No distractions for Tiger Woods Paul Lawrie still not getting credit for Open win Jose Maria Olazabal withdraws from the Open Rod Pampling seeks to change Carnoustie luck Sergio Garcia unhappy with Scottish weather Weather biggest factor in how Carnoustie will play Gary Player says some players take steriods Justin Rose seeks to break European drought Quotations about the Open Championship Course Guide: Carnoustie 2007 European Tour Schedule GREAT GIFTS FOR GOLFERS Golf Breaks to Portugal & Ireland Half Price Golf Vouchers InstructaCard - your portable pro! The Father & Son Golf Ch'ship Golf Insurance

Paul Lawrie returns to site of famous victory

Paul Lawrie returns to the scene of his finest golfing moment next week when the British Open goes back to Carnoustie for the first time since his victory at the Scottish course in 1999.

Lawrie wrote his name in the record books when he came from 10 strokes behind to earn a place in a four-hole playoff with a closing 67, and then birdied the final two holes to defeat Frenchman Jean van de Velde and American Justin Leonard.

"I don't think about it every day but of course it's always on my mind," the 38-year-old Briton told Reuters. "I haven't watched the video for quite a while now.

"Whenever I struggled I used to get the video out but you move on, you're not that player any more. Your game's different, your swing's different, your thinking's different, so looking back isn't such a good thing."

The Scot has not won on the European Tour since the 2002 Wales Open and has a sense of deja vu about his form now compared to the state of his game eight years ago.

"As far as where my game is, well, there's not a hell of a lot different," said Lawrie. "I was struggling a wee bit before the Open that year.

"I'd won the Qatar Masters but hadn't played well in the weeks before Carnoustie. This year's reasonably similar."

Lawrie's best performance this season has been a tie for 11th in Qatar and he languishes in 123rd place on the European order of merit.

But one area where he believes he has made good progress is in the fitness department.

"My fitness is a lot better than it was back then," said Lawrie. "I'm a little lighter than I was.

"I've never really been badly unfit. I've always been around the same weight, 13-1/2 to 14 stone. But I feel fitter than I was in 1999."

Lawrie said fitness was especially significant in the big tournaments.

"Stamina is important in a major," he said. "It's not a low-scoring contest like most weeks, it's the guy who can stay the course the longest, make the fewest mistakes, who wins majors, as opposed to the guy who makes 10 birdies and six bogeys.

"That doesn't work in majors. You need to be fit mentally as well as physically to see the whole thing through."