It was not the start to Open Championship Sunday that Martin Laird had been hoping for.
"It was tough to get motivated and I wasn't exactly dying to get out of bed," yawned the Scot, after signing off with a one-over 72. Funnily enough, the increasingly bedraggled golf writers felt exactly the same.
At the halfway stage of the 142nd championship on Friday, Laird was dreaming of a Sunday lie in and a late tee-off time among the leaders. That turned into a nightmare on Saturday, however, as the 30-year-old Glasgow man was given a rude awakening. A blood-curdling 81 in round three, marred by a shanked No.7-iron on the third which set in motion a desperate sequence of events and led to a quintuple bogey nine, scuppered his plan of attack. Laird, who tied fifth in the previous weekend's Scottish Open, had to settle for a spot among the rank and file yesterday after finishing with a 10-over aggregate of 294.
"Right now I can't really think about any positives, I'm still thinking about Saturday," said Laird, who was sharing sixth at the halfway stage and right in Claret Jug contention. "I really, really regret that second shot at the third yesterday from the rough. That one is going to take a while to get over. If I made par there or even bogey, who knows what might have happened. I was playing great, I was feeling good and I wasn't nervous. The hardest thing for me was that I knew I was playing well this week and I knew I was putting well. It was just about one hole really."
The benefits of a month off before the Scottish Open and the Open, plus the added bonus of staying in his own bed just 40 minutes away, left Stephen Gallacher feeling as fit as a fiddle and he claimed the honour of the leading Scot with a tidy two-under 69. "I'm as fresh as a daisy and I might even go for a run later . . . down to the pub," joked Gallacher, after finishing on the fringes of the top-20 with a seven-over 291.
"I had played really nicely on Saturday and three-putted four of the last six," said the two-time European Tour winner. "Even today, I three-putted the fifth and the ninth. For my last 15 holes on Saturday and today's round, I've had something like 60 putts. It was just so hard to get the pace. This was a good round though. Any time you can break par on an Open course and in a major then you've done well."
Gallacher is now eager to keep the momentum going over the next few weeks as he heads across the Atlantic for the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio and the final major of the campaign, the US PGA Championship at Oak Hill, the venue where his uncle Bernard captained Europe to Ryder Cup glory in 1995. With European qualifying for next year's Ryder Cup beginning at the end of August in the Wales Open, it promises to be a hectic spell. Gallacher, the world No.78, is relishing the jam-packed schedule.
"It's going to be massive," added the 39-year-old. "This is a good time to try and peak in these big events. It's non-stop."
Paul Lawrie's eventful few days ended with a 72 for an eight-over 292 as he completed a spirited salvage operation. The 1999 Open champion began with an 81, followed that up with a 69 but drove back to Aberdeen in the belief that he would miss the cut. He didn't, of course, and made a swift turnaround to compete in the closing 36-holes. "It's a decent week, not a great week," reported the 44-year-old. "But then, it's a great week after that start. I'm kind of proud that I battled away and kept going. After a 10-over round, you take a lot out of the fact that you're going to finish near the top-25."
Richie Ramsay slumped to a double-bogey six on the 18th in a 74 for 296, while the 1985 Claret Jug winner Sandy Lyle will have to try and lift his morale for this week's Senior Open at Royal Birkdale after finishing last of the 84 players who made the cut. His closing 79, which included an eight up the 12th, left the 55-year-old on a 23-over 307.
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