Amongst professional golfers, there is a belief that you lose ground by standing still. In short, no matter how well you shoot, you're never entirely happy with how you play; that there is always room for improvement. Philip Reid reports.

And so it was that Peter Lawrie - whose runner-up finish in the Spanish Open on Sunday represented his best-ever career performance - arrived home in Dublin yesterday believing he had only caught a glimpse of what his true potential holds.

"I've still got a lot of work to do," he insisted, adding: "I know that I have got to become an even better ball striker."

Still, after a career that has known more hard times than glory ones, Lawrie was ready to enjoy his spell in the limelight.

"What's this they say, that what goes around comes around? I've worked hard to get here. It's been a long, hard grind with a lot of downs but I have always known I had it in me to perform," he said.

Last season, Lawrie secured his full card for the 2003 European Tour via the Challenge Tour route. He actually missed the cut in four of his first five events last year but once he gathered momentum there was no stopping him and he subsequently had six top-10 finishes and a season-closing win in the Challenge Tour Grand Final. It showed that once he got himself into a position of contention, he wasn't one to back away.

Although Kenneth Ferrie won the Spanish Open title in a three-way play-off, Lawrie doesn't see himself as losing it.

"My major goal for the season was to get my card secured as soon as I could, which is why I played such an intensive schedule early on. I've effectively done that now, and the pressure is off from that point of view.

"Funny thing is, I didn't feel any pressure over the final few holes of the final round or in the play-off. Maybe it has to do with the experience I have picked up over the past number of years, but I was very calm and composed. You're learning all the way, even going back to when you played amateur golf and I've been in similar positions before. Obviously not playing for that kind of money, but in similar positions competitively.

"No matter where you are, or what you are playing for, you want to win - and that was the only thing I had in my mind."

Lawrie's first ever top-10 finish on the full European Tour has changed his entire season, and the outlook on what he can go on to achieve. Now up to 24th on the Volvo Order of Merit, he can, as he put it, "tinker a bit with my schedule" as he works out what the future holds. He misses this week's Italian Open - a tournament that was not on his itinerary anyway - and returns to the competitive fray for next week's International tournament at The Belfry which will start a five-week long stint on the circuit.

"After this, my own expectations have come up a level," admitted Lawrie, "but, in saying that, I have to be realistic. Even looking at how I played in the Canaries, I didn't drive the ball particularly well - but it was a sign of how I have developed that I was still able to play to my strengths. I was strong mentally.

"My iron play was particularly good. And my putting - I didn't take more than 28 putts in any of the four rounds - and my short game was good. But there's still a lot of work to be done, I have to become a better ball striker."

That quest for improvement is one that belongs to all professional golfers - even up to world number one Tiger Woods - but Lawrie is a player who has shown a willingness to graft to get to a level where he believes he belongs.

An Irish amateur champion in 1996, he took time to find his feet in the professional game, traversing the globe until finally getting the chance to establish himself on the full European Tour.

Part of his progress can be attributed to the work conducted with his coach Brendan McDaid, the club professional at Rathsallagh.

McDaid, for one, believes that Lawrie's performance in the Spanish Open will see the player go from "strength to strength".

McDaid explained: "Peter's a very good student with a good short game and much improved ball-striking.

"He's the sort of player who will take all the positives from his performance but, like the better players on tour, will know that there are areas in which to improve.

"Sure look, even Tiger Woods isn't happy to stand still and always seeks to improve. Peter has made a lot of progress, but there is even more to be made."

One of McDaid's other charges is Gary Murphy, and the Kilkenny player is one of five Irish competitors in the field for the Italian Open which takes place in Brescia, starting on Thursday.

Philip Walton has secured a sponsor's invite and is also playing as a past winner.

Murphy, conscious that there is a re-ranking of qualifying school graduates after this event, will be seeking to garner more prize money while Gary Cullen, Damien McGrane and Ronan Rafferty are also in the field.