Scottsdale, AZ …
Martin Laird brought the three-story stadium crowd to their feet in holing a six-foot birdie gem at the 16th on route to a superb 67 on day one of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
It handed the Scot a share of ninth place and just three strokes adrift of victorious USA Ryder Cup star, Matt Kuchar who capped his round with a 13th hole eagle and five birdies in a seven under par 64 on the par 71 TPC Scottsdale course.
Martin Laird with 8-iron in hand on the 16th hole tee
Kuchar, and playing in the afternoon half of the draw in the $US 6.7m event, overhauled Hideki Matsuyama and with the World No. 5 ranked Japan-born golfer recording a six under par 65 in the defence of his title and exactly the same score he posted on day one of the event a year ago.
Some 20,000 raucous fans were packed into the ‘Coliseum’ hole when Laird stepped onto the 16th tee with an 8-iron in his hand.
And he didn’t disappoint in landing his tee shot to some six feet from the flag and rolling in the birdie putt and thus avoid a crescendo of booing.
Martin Laird’s ball lands just six feet from the flag.
“I hit a little 8-iron into 16 that was the perfect number but then to birdie that hole is just as rewarding as birding any other hole at any tournament we play,” he said.
“They’re all worth one-under par and while it’s easy to be distracted by all that noise, I have been playing here long enough to sort of blank it out as compared to when I first came here to Phoenix.”
Laird grabbed six birdies in his showing but had found himself two over par after a bogey at four and followed by a double bogey at the next where he had to play a green side bunker shot but with one foot in a bunker and other out.
Crowds stacked three stories high watch as Martin Laird lines up his birdie putt
“I nearly made an eagle at the second but then after dropping a shot at the fourth but then in playing my bunker shot at the fifth it came out a bit heavy because of the stance I had and before you know it I’d taken six shots for it to drop,” he said.
“It was one of those holes where I really didn’t hit a bad tee shot but I walked off with a double.
“But from thereon in I played really lovely and playing my last dozen holes in six under par.
Laird stands over his 6-foot birdie putt on the 16th at TPC Scottsdale
“The good thing is my irons are really dialled-in and these greens are some of the best we have putted on for some time.”
The big disappointment of the day was the effort of Scotland’s top-ranked Russell Knox who walked off with darkness quickly descending with a shock three over par 74.
Knox could only manage one birdie but also four bogeys including finding a greenside bunker at 16 but then taking three shots to get down from some 40-feet.
Martin Laird’s birdie putt about to disappear into the bottom of the cup.
It left the World No. 18 lying in a distant share of 110th place in the now 131-player field.
“When is the last time have you seen Russell’s name so low on a leader board?” asked his caddy, Brad Whittle.
“It was just one of those days that if something went wrong Russell paid a heavy price.
“We are out early on Friday and it could easily be the case of Russell getting a good bounce here or there, and that’s what avoided him game today.”
