Gritty finish helps Laird find his feet on home soil

Published on Sunday 12 July 2009 23:01

ALTHOUGH he was some way short of his best form and spilled four shots in five holes on the front nine, Martin Laird gritted his teeth on the inward half at Loch Lomond, came home in 32 and marked his professional debut on the European Tour by finishing tenth at the Barclays Scottish Open and collecting a cheque for £60,000.

Eager to impress his ain folk, the Arizona-based pro, who plays most of his golf on the PGA Tour, acknowledged he needed to rely on mental discipline to overcome a few shot-making flaws in order to post 71 for 275, nine under par.

The highest placed of the 14 Scots who took part in the 3million event, the 26-year-old said: "That was about as hard as I've grinded it out in a while. I had to keep my focus because I didn't play very well. I wanted to chase the leaders. When that didn't happen, I was pleased with the way I played on the back nine to get it back.

"The last thing I wanted was to fall down the leaderboard on Sunday. There were plenty of shouts from the crowd and I don't normally get that in America. I was about as motivated as I could be on the back nine to try and shoot under par."

Having thoroughly enjoyed his first taste of pro golf on home turf, Laird now heads for Turnberry and his Open debut over the Ailsa. "When you are struggling, it's nice to hear people supporting you and hopefully it will be the same at The Open," he added. "I guess I'm not really under the radar now."

While his priority remains to retain his playing privileges in America, Laird says he would love to be able to play in the Diageo and the Dunhill Links as well as the Scottish Open.

"I've always said that if I do well over the next couple of months (on the PGA Tour] then I can come back. I'd love to be able to play all the tournaments in Scotland if I could. If my game keeps going in the right direction then, hopefully, I can play in the Dunhill."

Apart from Laird's consistent debut – he received deserved applause for a terrific birdie 3 on the last – the home contingent won't remember this staging of the Scottish Open with any great affection. For example, Paul Lawrie, 72 for 280, four-under, felt the sheen was removed from a decent effort by successive bogeys over the two closing holes.

"I'd hit a beautiful shot into the 17th green, rolled the putt a couple of feet by and missed the one back," he rued. "Then I three-putted the last. That said, the best golf I played at Loch Lomond was in the last round. I hit it so well and couldn't hole a putt. In the earlier part of the week I'd chipped and putted great, but today it was shocking. Welcome to my world. On the days you play poorly, you up and down everything. And on days you play well, you can't get it in. It'd be nice to put the two together, and doing it at the Open would be even nicer than doing it here."

About to tee up in the oldest major for the first time as a professional, David Drysdale also signed off at Loch Lomond on a salutary note. He started the week encouragingly, but ran up a triple-bogey 7 at the last and posted 73 for 285, one over par.

He pulled his drive into the loch and was forced to unleash his third shot on the 18th from the tee. The second drive, all but inevitably, went right into the rough where he could do little more than hack out.

It would be wrong to suggest, mark you, that the experience was a sobering one since it's hard to imagine any golfer with a more realistic view of the game or a more modest appraisal of his own standing.

"I just want to focus on what I'm doing and don't want to build it up to be anything bigger," he said of his major championship debut.

"I'll try to keep as much pressure off myself as possible, and just go out and play the way I know I can play."

Jason McCreadie, the Tartan Tour player who made the cut in a European Tour event for the first time here at the Scottish Open, found the standard over the weekend at Loch Lomond difficult to match and carded 77 for 288, four-over.

Scott Drummond, 167th in the Order of Merit, is battling to retain his Tour card and knows he needs much stronger finishes than 72 for 285 if he wants to keep his playing rights.