Laird confirms place in Scottish Open field

AS he prepares for a first appearance of the season on this side of the Atlantic – in next week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth – Martin Laird has also confirmed he’ll be playing in the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart in July.

“Playing in Scotland is something I really love coming home for,” said world No 31 Laird, who has been a global ambassador for the event’s new title sponsor, Aberdeen Asset Management, since the start of the year.

“The Scottish Open is one of the most important events on my schedule so I am really looking forward to getting back to Castle Stuart in July. I think most Scots who live abroad and spend most of their time away from Scotland have an extra sense of patriotism and I am no different. The more time you spend out of the country the more you find yourself promoting it.

“I am the first person to tell anyone in America how great a country Scotland is and obviously what a fabulous destination it is to go and play golf, so to have the chance to come home and play in the Scottish Open is a real honour for me.

“It goes without saying I would love to win it – that would be one of the highlights of my career to win the Scottish Open in front of one of the best golf crowds in the world. I think every Scotsman in the field would feel the same about winning in front of the home fans and it’s about time we produced another home winner.”

That was reference to Colin Montgomerie being the last Scot to win the event at Loch Lomond in 1999.