The tartan army for an assault on the Open Championship continues to enlist more recruits.
Martin Laird, who has played in each of the last four years but has made the cut just once, will get another crack at the Claret Jug after the latest round of exemptions came into force yesterday morning. A few hours later, Stephen Gallacher was drafted in from the reserve list when news came through that John Daly, the Open champion at St Andrews in 1995, had withdrawn due to injury.
Laird, the 30-year-old Glaswegian, was one of eight players who earned a call up to the Muirfield major in the category of highest-ranked golfers on the world rankings who were not already exempt. The three-time PGA Tour winner, who currently sits 59th on the global order, had been optimistic of gaining an Open berth through that particular route and the confirmation arrived yesterday morning as he made his first visit of the week to Castle Stuart ahead of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
"I thought there was a good chance I would get in off the ranking last week," said Laird, who qualified with Chris Wood, Kyle Stanley, Ken Duke, Marc Leishman, Freddie Jacobsen , Graham DeLeat and Sunday's Greenbrier Classic winner, Jonas Blixt. "It was nice news when it came."
Gallacher, meanwhile, was pipped to a Murfield tee-time by countryman Marc Warren by just a few hundred pounds on the European Tour's mini order of merit, which was concluded after the weekend's French Open. He had been installed as first reserve due his world ranking, though, and swiftly moved up into the field as Daly informed the Royal & Ancient of his withdrawal.
Laird and Gallacher's entry into the Open takes the number of Scots competing to 10, the highest number since 11 played at St Andrews in 2005. The posse now includes Warren, Laird, Gallacher, Paul Lawrie, Sandy Lyle, George Murray, Scott Jamieson, Richie Ramsay, Lloyd Saltman and Grant Forrest.
Meanwhile, Murray and Alastair Forsyth will bolster home numbers at this week's Scottish Open at Castle Stuart near Inverness after they received late invitations to the £3m championship. Murray, the former Scottish Amateur champion, and two-time European Tour winner Forsyth have both been juggling competition on both the main circuit and the Challenge Tour this year and will be eager to make the most of a potentially lucrative opportunity to bolster their earnings with a good showing in the Highlands.
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