Martin Laird set about ending a six-year winless drought to muscle his way to a share of third on the opening day of the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina.
Laird, 36 bravely fought back from a third hole double-bogey to post a four-under par 67 in ideal scoring conditions on the par-71 Quail Hollow course in suburban Charlotte.
Double Wells Fargo winner Rory McIlroy looks determined to plant a third victory cherry on Saturday’s 30th birthday cake in picking off five inward half bridies, and taking just 31 strokes, to muscle his way into an eventual share of the lead with a five-under par 66.
Scot Martin Laird just one off the lead after the opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship. (Photo @tourmiss)
He said: “It’s just a fun golf course and it really suits my eye, and every time I step onto this golf course I feel like I have the chance to shoot a good score.
“I did not play my best today and I sort of managed my game well, scrambled well but it added-up to a good number at the end of the day.”
McIlroy is now 74-under par for his 39 rounds in the Wells Fargo, and an event he captured first in 2010 thanks to a final round 62, and then again in 2015.
Laird, who was out in the morning half of the draw, produced just his third sub-70 score in 27 rounds of the £stg 6.07m event to head to the clubhouse tied with the American duo of former Masters winner, Patrick Reed and Adam Schenk.
Canadian Nick Taylor, who had teamed with Laird to finish T9th last week at the New Orleans Classic, then joined the trio in the clubhouse lead.
When play ended McIlroy and American Joel Dahmen led at five-under with South African Dylan Fritteli joining Laird and others sharing third place.
Defending champ, Jason Day of Australia was just a shot further back.
Laird, who made his debut in the event in 2009, birdied his first but made a mess of the par-3 13th he was playing as his fourth in taking a double but regrouped with birdies at his sixth and eighth holes.
He then holed a nine-footer for birdie at his 11th ahead of draining an 28-footer at his 15th before moving to four-under with a birdie at the next.
Laird said: “I played really nicely today with just one little hiccup on the par-3 13th, and my fourth, where I missed it left and short-sided myself, and just got a little too cute with my chip shot in making double.
“So, with the exception of that one hole I played really, really nicely.
“There was only one other hole, and that was the 18th or the ninth of my round, where I was scrambling. I just hit a lot of greens which is important around here while I gave myself a lot of looks and made some of them.
“Overall, I am very happy with the way I played.”
Since capturing the 2013 Valero Texas Open to qualify for the following week’s Masters, Laird has managed just three top-3s in a now $17m (£stg 13.05m) PGA Tour career.
This season the Scot has contested 14 events in the 2018/19 wraparound schedule with a best of a T7th last October while last week he and Taylor shared ninth place in the team format in New Orleans.
