You could call it karma, his reward for good deeds. Peter Lawrie, without a full tour card, wasn't in the field for this BMW PGA Championship when he teed off at PGA Catalunya on Monday in a charity fund-raiser for the Special Olympics. The Dubliner thought he'd exhausted all his options of extending his run in the flagship event to a 13th time, that he had used up all his network of connections, that calls were falling on deaf ears. Hope had faded.

But midway through that charity outing his mobile phone beeped with a text message that proved to be a case of lucky 13: it was from the European Tour, confirming he had an invite. Yesterday, Lawrie made the most of his opportunity, carding an opening round 69, three under, that put him at the business end of matters.

His demeanour on exiting the recorder’s cabin – calm, cool and collected – was some way removed from how Lawrie felt when the text message arrived. “It was all just panic stations inside, about flights, accommodation. Thinking, ‘when am I going to get there?’ I hadn’t been home for a week (due to playing in the Spanish Open as a past champion) and I’m doing the US Open qualifying (at Walton Heath) on Monday.”

Practice round

As it turned out, Lawrie decided to go home to Dublin to spend Monday night with his family before flying onward to London on Tuesday where he played a curtailed practice round that would be his only preparation for the €5 million tournament.

But, then, it wasn’t as if he was a first-timer to the West Course. Lawrie first teed up in this championship back in 2003 and the invite not only extended that streak to a 13th straight appearance but also provided him with the chance to make some impact towards regaining his tour card. At present, on limited outings, he is 129th on the Race to Dubai standings.

Lawrie has been living week to week unsure of when or where he would be playing, waiting for invites or for calls of rejection. Does being a season tour pro help?

“No, it kind of makes it worst to be honest with you. You’re so used to being here and having booked your accommodation, knowing exactly where you’re staying.

“It’s like practising for an exam but I don’t know when it is or where it is. That’s the very difficult part of things. You don’t know what tournament you’re getting into and you don’t know when you’ll get an invite. . . . . I feel lucky to be here. This is the pinnacle, as good as it gets.”

He’s making the most of it. “Well, this is the biggest one, €5 million (purse). If you play well in this one, you’re on your way to getting your card back and that’s what I am here for,” said Lawrie, who has benefitted from invites in back-to-back weeks that will also see him tee up in next week’s Irish Open.

He will also play in the International Qualifying for the US Open at Walton Heath on Monday. Before then, he could have sorted out a lot of business at Wentworth.

Apart from a double bogey he described as “stupidity more than anything” on the third hole – “I hit a five-wood into the green and it came back off the front, tried to be too aggressive with the pitch and chipped it over the green, then chipped back and missed the putt,” – Lawrie responded with six birdies on the remainder of the round. “I knuckled down,” he said.

Lawrie – who has a career best finish of fourth here in 2012 – was happy with the start, but aware that the journey is only a quarter of the way completed.

“This is the biggest one and I’m knuckling down and we’ll see how it goes.”