Exiled Laird relishes chance to tee up on home soil for first time as a pro

Published on Tuesday 7 July 2009 22:55

AS THE first Scot in two decades to become a full-time member of the US PGA Tour, Martin Laird can go about his business in relative anonymity in America. The golfer suspects, however, he'll enjoy a far more boisterous reception at Loch Lomond when he makes his professional debut on home turf this week at the Barclays Scottish Open.

While his parents, Anne and Charles, who live in Fife, have seen him play in the States, for most of Laird's family and friends it will be a new experience to watch him compete. Indeed, one friend, Robbie Gibbons, is starting his stag do on Friday by bringing a group of ten or 11 revellers to the bonnie banks to follow the Arizona-based golfer.

"My parents try to get over at least once a year and watch (me]," he said. "They came to the Players Championship earlier in the year at Sawgrass in Florida, and my sister saw me play once. I've not had any friends come over, so this is going to be the first time a lot of my aunts and uncles and cousins will ever see me play.

"There's going to be a lot of my friends out here on Friday for sure. I'm asking everyone I know if they can get spare tickets. One of my friends is starting a stag weekend here on Friday, so about ten or 11 friends will be out there, and I'm sure they will be noisy. It will be fun and kind of strange. I'm normally used to having maybe two or three people I know following me when I'm playing in America. It will be different and it will be good to have such a big crowd."

For those among Scotland's knowledgeable golf public who only know of Laird by reputation, I asked the 26-year-old, who has spent the last nine years living in Phoenix, to describe his game. "I definitely have a high ball flight," he replied. "When I'm playing my best, I'm normally hitting cuts. I'm going to have to probably work on keeping the ball a little lower the next couple of weeks. But yes, I definitely would say I'm more the stereotypical American-style of player with a high ball flight, someone who hits long irons way up in the air. I think I'm top 20 in driving distance on the PGA Tour."

Although he has less of an American accent after nine years away than Sheena Easton did after nine weeks, Laird doesn't deny his voice is almost as Americanised as his golf. "I get Australia, England, Ireland," he said when asked if Americans knew where he came from. "I've definitely lost my accent over the nine years I've been over there."

But his affection for his homeland remains strong. Laird agrees that absence makes the heart grow fonder. "I wear a bell with a Saltire on it all the time," he said. "I have a Saltire on my golf bag. I have tees that have the Saltire on them. And I'm sure if I was living here, I probably wouldn't have all that. Yeah, I definitely try to keep the flag as visible as possible. When you've been away for as long as I have and you're that far away (from home], I try to do everything I can to make people aware of where I'm from."

Laird sees plenty of similarities between Tom Weiskopf's design at Loch Lomond and the courses he plays in America. Consequently, if he sharpens up his short game, "I don't see why I can't be in contention on Sunday going into the last round".

As for The Open at Turnberry next week, apart from a couple of games with his Father at Lundin Links during the winter, he hasn't set foot on a links for two years. Nor has he ever teed up on the Ailsa before. Nevertheless, he "can't wait to get into my first Open".

David Drysdale, the leading Scot in the Race to Dubai, feels the same way. He still remembers as an amateur getting a call from Derek Small, the pro at Dunbar, to play as a marker in 1992 with Roger Chapman and John Daly at Muirfield. Seventeen years on and the Scot will fulfil a lifelong ambition by teeing up in his own right at the only major held outside the USA. Before then, he intends to capitalise at Loch Lomond on a solid series of performances in 2009 which have already seen him win more than 300,000.

"I've had a couple of good showings here in the past and, being Scottish, I regard it as the biggest event I play on Tour," he enthused. "You are playing in front of the most knowledgeable fans in golf. That just helps me to focus and the added pressure helps to make me play better."