Stephen Gallacher may have been left in awe of Niagara Falls but the Scot has said he already feels very comfortable after a first look at Oak Hill, venue for this week's US PGA Championship.

Gallacher went to the course on Monday to register but then took the afternoon off and packed his family into the Mercedes courtesy car for the hour-long drive west to Niagara Falls.

The American and Bridal Veil falls measure 176-foot high and it is estimated that 156,000 gallons flow over the falls each second, while the more spectacular Canadian, or 'Horseshoe', falls are 170ft high with some 600,000 gallons pouring over the edge each second. "It is just incredible; I've never seen anything like it my life," said the Scot. "You stand on the edge and you're in awe at the amount of water flowing over the falls."

He was back at Oak Hill early yesterday morning, joining his countryman Paul Lawrie for a back-nine practice round on the venue staging the season's final major.

"From what I've seen, it's very, very straight-forward," said Gallacher. "Having played the four rounds in Akron should prove to be a great warm-up for this week. It is very similar course to the eye and I feel it could really help my cause."

Gallacher and Lawrie were oblivious to a plaque lying in the first cut on the left-hand side of the 18th, which marks the spot when the American Shaun Micheel hit a 7-iron from 175-yards out to just two inches on the final hole to capture the 2003 Championship.

Gallacher hit a 6-iron from just less than 200 yards while Lawrie also hit a 6-iron, but from 182-yards. "I watched that shot [Micheel's] on the Golf Channel and it was pretty amazing, given the situ­ation he was staring at," said Gallacher. "I'm just so excited being here." Just as excited was his 12-year-old son, Jack who walked the course with his father and was then observed on the final green swinging away with a sand wedge as dad practised his putting.

It is Gallacher's fourth outing in the event since he made his debut in 2005, although he missed the cut in the 2012 tournament in Atlanta.

Lawrie also got his first look at the course where his fellow Scots Sam Torrance and Colin Montgomerie were members of the victorious 1995 Europe Ryder Cup team. A plaque on an outside wall of the clubhouse next to a practice putting green acknowledges the occasion, along with plaques recalling all those who have won major events on Oak Hill.

"The course is great; it's the first time I've played here and it's just beautiful," said Lawrie. "I'm not sure why I didn't play here in 2003 - I think I could have been injured."

"The last few holes, from 15 through to 18, are great closing holes. I've come here pleased with my efforts at the Bridgestone last week; if you take Tiger out of the equation, eight under par would have won."

The championship will be Lawrie's 39th major outing and his sixth in the US PGA Championship. He made his debut in 1999 but did not contest it between 2003 and 2011. "Playing the majors is where you always want to be but there's no extra anticipation," he said. "If you make them more important than other tournaments you are going to struggle."

Also on the course on Tuesday in front of remarkable crowds, and with still two days to the start of the 95th staging of the tournament, were the other Scots in action this week: Scott Jamieson and Marc Warren, who were not in Akron and arrived earlier in the week, along with Martin Laird and Richie Ramsay who did play in the Bridgestone event.

Adam Scott, the US Masters champion, revealed he was more disappointed not to win this year's Open Championship than last year's, when he squandered a four-shot lead with four holes to play.

"I worked really hard to get myself in a position with nine holes to go, because I got off to a slow start on Sunday," he said. "In the space of about 45 minutes, to go from leading to not even having a chance on the 16th tee was disappointing, probably more so than at Lytham."