Paul Stewart Lawrie (born 1 January 1969, Aberdeen) is a Scottish professional golfer who is best known for winning The Open Championship in 1999.

Career outline
Lawrie became a member of the European Tour in 1992, and performed steadily without doing much to draw attention to himself. In his first seven seasons his only top 50 finish on the order of merit came in 1996 when he was 21st. However he also finished in the top 100 in all but one of the other six seasons, and picked up a debut tour win at the 1996 Catalan Open.

Lawrie’s career was transformed in 1999. After winning the Qatar Masters, which is a European Tour event, early in the season, he went on to win the 128th Open Golf Championship at Carnoustie in July. This was the Open where the Frenchman Jean Van de Velde famously threw away a three-shot lead on the final hole. Lawrie won a four-hole playoff against Van de Velde and the American Justin Leonard. An unusual aspect of Lawrie’s victory was that he was neither leader or co-leader at any time during his regulation 72 holes, only moving into a share of the lead when the leaders came back to him after he had completed his final round. Also, Lawrie came back from the largest third-round deficit ever faced by a major championship winner; going into the final day, he trailed the leader, Van de Velde, by 10 shots.

After his major championship victory Lawrie’s game shifted to a higher level without quite moving him into the global elite group of golfers. He finished 9th on the European Tour Order of Merit in 1999, 6th in 2001, when he captured the lucrative Dunhill Links Championship, and 10th in 2002, when he won his fifth European Tour title at the Wales Open.

After winning the Open, Lawrie was a member of the PGA Tour for several seasons, while also continuing to compete on the European Tour, but he enjoyed little success in the U.S. and when his five year major championship exemption expired at the end of the 2004 season, he lost his PGA Tour card.

Lawrie was the last European player to win a major until 2007, when that drought was ended by Pádraig Harrington of Ireland in The Open Championship.

European Tour wins
1996 Catalan Open
1999 Qatar Masters, The Open Championship
2001 Dunhill Links Championship
2002 Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open

Other professional wins
1990 Scottish Assistants Championship
1992 UAP Under 25s Championship, Scottish Brewers Championship
2002 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Match Play Championship

Major Championships

Wins (1)
Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin Runners Up
1999 The Open Championship 10 shot deficit +6 (73-74-76-67=290) Playoff 1 Justin Leonard, Jean Van de Velde

1 Defeated Justin Leonard and Jean Van de Velde in 4-hole playoff: Lawrie (5-4-3-3=15), Leonard (5-4-4-5=18), Van de Velde (6-4-3-5=18)

Team appearances
Ryder Cup: 1999
Seve Trophy: 2000, 2002, 2003
WGC-World Cup: 1996, 2000, 2002, 2003
Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1999