Victory for Hunting sponsored Paul Lawrie

Hunting sponsored Paul Lawrie's long wait for a European Tour win ended on the 27^th March 2011 after a triumph in the Andalucia Open in Spain. The former Open Champion took the title by one shot from Johan Edfors to gain his sixth European Tour win.

Lawrie started the final round with a one shot lead; however his hopes were dashed following bogeys on the first three holes. Despite this, Lawrie turned things around superbly by starting the back nine with four birdies in five holes, to win with a level par 70 and 12 under for the competition.

The victory comes 232 events after his last European Tour win in Wales, and he has had six runner-up finishes in the mean time. Following the win, a delighted Lawrie said: "It's been a long time - 2002 seems a hell of a time ago. I've had a few second places in there, but all of a sudden we're there again. I played lovely and the putter behaved better. I got on a nice run at the right time." He added: "I started hitting beautiful shots on the back nine. I birdied ten, 11 and 12, and then did a great up and down on 14 for birdie just at the right moment."

Lawrie, from Aberdeen in the North East of Scotland, has won arguably the most prestigious trophy in golf, the claret jug, following his triumph at the Open Championships in 1999. Prior to his win last week in Malaga, he had won four further events on the European Tour with victories in Spain, Qatar, Scotland and Wales, as well as representing the European Ryder Cup team in 1999.

In January, Lawrie signed a sponsorship contract with Hunting with the agreement seeing Lawrie wearing the Hunting corporate logo on his collar throughout the year in recognition of Hunting's support for the Paul Lawrie Foundation. Bruce Ferguson (Managing Director, Hunting Energy Services International) commented:  "Paul is an excellent ambassador for golf and we are delighted to announce this new partnership, supporting both the glory and grassroots elements of the sport, through his work in the wider community with the Paul Lawrie Foundation.  The Foundation encourages participation and fair competition in a range of sports and Hunting is pleased to support Paul's enthusiasm in giving something back to the local community".