Martin Laird will draw on his Open travails at Muirfield and refocus on ending Scotland's 14-year majors drought at this week's US PGA Championship in Rochester.
Laird is one of six Scots, including former Open champion Paul Lawrie, who will be teeing up today at Oak Hill. Last month, the 30-year-old moved to within a shot of the lead in the third round at Muirfield when he took a 9 at the third hole. He was docked a further stroke by not declaring loudly enough to playing partner Dustin Johnson that he had picked up the American's ball to identify it and went on to card an 81. He finished the tournament in a share of 44th place and took all of the following week to calm down.
"What happened at Muirfield will be motivation for me this week," said the South Carolina-based Scot. "I didn't touch a club for a week after what happened at the Open and I really didn't like golf for a while after that. I was extremely annoyed to say the least. I didn't play all that bad. It was just that one shot and that one hole that killed me."
This week marks Laird's 17th major appearance since making his debut in the 2007 US Open at Oakmont and he is looking to change his approach. "I've learned from experience that the more I treat the majors like majors, the worse I play. The more I treat them just like another tournament down the road the better. That was my problem the first few years playing in the majors. I would be preparing for a month and then when I got to the tournament I would find myself putting too much expectation and pressure on myself."
Laird, Marc Warren, Richie Ramsay and Scott Jamieson yesterday played together over the back nine at Oak Hill. While Laird and Ramsay competed at last week's WGC-Bridgestone event in Akron, the PGA will be Warren and Jamieson's first outing since missing the cut at the Open. Warren, who is making his PGA debut, praised the Oak Hills course. "It's absolutely immaculate but the rough it mega-thick and the greens slope towards you so you have to keep your ball below the hole.
"There's nothing like it at the venues we play in Europe but I like the variety of the holes with a mix of short par 4s, long par 4s, reachable par 5s and great finishing holes. The atmosphere is just incredible, with 35,000 fans here yesterday, and it's got me very excited. There are six Scots here this week - a great representation - so hopefully we can all do well."
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