David Law has a spring in his step. And no wonder. Less than a fortnight ago, the Aberdonian was hirpling around with a niggling hip injury that had forced him to miss a couple of DP World Tour outings.
Here at The Renaissance, however, Law could probably thrust those hips into the kind of joyous, gyrating shoogle that Elvis used to perform after teeing-up two of the biggest weeks of his golfing career.
The timely tonic began with a share of fourth in the Horizon Irish Open at Mount Juliet last Sunday which secured him a major debut in the 150th Open at St Andrews next week.
A day or so later, Law was handed an invitation to the $8 million Genesis Scottish Open. The golfing gods work in mysterious ways don’t they?
“Two weeks ago, if someone had said I’d be playing this week and next week, I wouldn’t have believed them,” said Law of this significant change in his fortunes.
“My hip wasn’t getting better as quickly as I would have liked. It was steadily getting better but then I woke up on the Wednesday the week before the Irish Open and it felt like it was back to square one again.
“So that’s when I said, ‘right, we need to go down, get a scan and get it looked at’.
“On the Friday before the Irish Open, I was down in Edinburgh seeing the doctor and I was still really struggling with it. I hadn’t hit balls for two weeks, having withdrawn in Sweden then missing the event in Munich as well.
“The focus in Ireland was just to get playing and I literally went into the week with zero expectations. And I ended up finishing fourth.”
It was a case of hip-hip-hooray as that result, his best of the season, sparked his campaign into life.
“It’s an exciting two weeks and now it’s just about carrying it on, keeping the momentum going and taking stock of why I did well last week,” added Law, who is one of nine Scots in a field featuring 14 of the world’s top-15 players “I’ve got a good idea. Sometimes less is more.”
This will be Law’s fourth appearance in the national championship as the 31-year-old lines up in a glittering, world-class draw that has a strength in depth that’s deeper than a burial at sea.
Last season, Law was making sprightly progress in the Scottish Open have started with a brace of 67s and he was still sitting in a share of eighth heading into the closing day.
He would eventually slither out of the title running with a closing 72 which left him in 37th spot but the sturdy showing on home turf provided the catalyst for a purposeful push which helped him safeguard his playing rights on the main circuit.
In his next three events, the former Scottish Amateur champion finished tied 18th, tied 15th and tied fourth.
“It got my season going,” he reflected of that springboard effect. “I didn’t have the best of Sundays, but the whole week boosted my confidence and I went on to play really well for the rest of the year
“Yes, I only finished 100th on the Race to Dubai in the end but it was looking a hell of a lot worse than that in June.
“I think a big event like this week really ups your focus a bit.”
With a Scottish Open and an Open to get his teeth into, there’s plenty for a rejuvenated Law to focus on.
