Martin Laird will use his Muirfield meltdown as motivation to help end Scotland’s 14-year Majors drought at this week’s PGA Championship in Rochester.
Laird is one of six Scots, including Paul Lawrie and Scotland’s last Major champion, who will be teeing up later today on the Oak Hill course.
Last month at Muirfield the 30-year old was within a shot of the lead on day three after just two holes when he took a ‘9’ at the short par four, third hole.
However the reigning Valero Texas Open champion was seven holes later then slapped with a further stroke penalty by not declaring loudly enough to playing partner Dustin Johnson that he had picked up his ball back at the third to identify it.
Laird was livid after the incident and taking an 81, and indicating he had indicated to a ball-spotter he was lifting the ball to identify it but under the Rules of Golf the onus was on Laird to bring it to the notice of Johnson.
It took all of the following week for the North Carolina-based Scot to calm down after the championship where he eventually finished well down in a share of 44th position.
Martin Laird using his Muirfield meltdown on day three of the championship as motivation this week. (Photo – Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ie)
“What happened at Muirfield will be motivation for me this week,” he said.
“I didn’t touch a club for a week after what happened on the third hole in The Open, and I really didn’t like golf for a while after that.
“I was extremely annoyed to say the least and I think back to that third round and I didn’t play all that bad. It was just that one shot and that one hole just killed me.
“I just played crap, really on that one hole and if I could have one shot back it would be that second shot on the third, and that was the hardest thing to accept.
“So after the Open I made a conscious decision to just get away but standing here now I am over it and I’ve moved on.
“So that will be my motivation this week to make amends for that third hole at Muirfield and from what I’ve seen of Oak Hill these past few days the golf course suits my game perfectly.
“The good thing is that you don’t lose your game in a few weeks and while I had a poor first round in the Bridgestone last week that was all down to a bit of rustiness not having touched a club for a week since Muirfield.”
This week marks Laird’s 20th Major appearance since making his debut in the 2007 US Open at Oakmont.
It is also his fourth straight PGA Championship since making his debut in 2010 at Whistling Straits where Laird finished T48th.
“I definitely exciting playing the Majors but the PGA is a strange one for me as I get so excited to go back home for the Scottish Open and then The Open as they are my two favourite events of the year,” he said.
“But then it is such a big stretch for us now from July through to September with so many big events and it then every week is a big event so it’s hard to look ahead.
“I’ve been looking ahead to this week at The Open was huge for me while the Scottish Open was also huge for me, and now I’m looking forward to teeing up this week in yet another huge event.
“But then I’ve now learned from experience the more the treat the Majors like Majors, the worse I play.
“The more I treat them just like another tournament down the road the better and that was my problem the first few years when I started playing in the Majors.
“I would be preparing for the Major for a month and then when I got to the tournament I would find myself putting too much expectations on myself and too much pressure on yourself.”
Laird, Marc Warren, Richie Scott Jamieson wound-up their preparations for a first PGA Championship playing the back nine of Oak Hill on Wednesday and with Warren and Jamieson out together for the prior two days of official practice.
While Laird and Ramsay competed last week in Akron the last event for Warren and Jamieson was The Open where each missed the cut.
Warren is out in one of the last groups on day one at 2.20pm local time (7.20pm UK) that will give him the morning to spend time with his young family and with five-month old Archie making his first trip across ‘The Pond’.
“Archie’s already been to Ireland and France so this is his first trip to America and his first Major in America,” he smiled.
“It’s great to be able to have him and Laura here so tomorrow morning I can spend a bit of time with him chilling out before my very last tee time.
“As for the golf course it’s absolutely immaculate but the rough it mega-thick and the greens slope towards you so you have to keep your ball below the hole.
“It’s very American unique and there’s nothing like it at the venues we play in Europe but in saying that I like the variety of the holes with a mix of short par fours, long par fours, reachable par fives while the last few holes are great finishing holes.
“This is my first PGA and the atmosphere is just incredible with 35,000 fans here yesterday and it’s got me very excited.
“There’s also six Scots here this week and that’s a great representation so hopefully we can all do well.”
