The Herald writers thought their day had got off to a bad start when it was discovered that the communal bottle of shampoo in the team caravan had been squeezed empty.

It could have been worse, though.

With matted hair and bleary eyes, we trudged into Muirfield. Lloyd Saltman, meanwhile, was bright, fresh and raring to go. It was just after 6.30am on Open Thursday and the Scot was off in the first group of the 142nd championship.

The problem was it took him a wee while to get off the first tee.

His opening drive with a 3-wood flew right, cleared a 20-foot high screen bordering the tented village and disappeared in an internal out of bounds. His next attempt went in the same direction and was heard to clatter something hard and unforgiving. Perhaps it was the Muirfield secretary?

The Open door was already beginning to close in Saltman's face. He was now playing five off the tee and, while he made a four with his third ball, a quadruple bogey eight was an almighty confidence crusher and he eventually muddled through to an eight-over 79.

By the end of a trying day, Saltman was not the only Scot to have suffered. Scott Jamieson sagged to an 80 while Paul Lawrie, the Open champion in 1999, trudged in with an 81, his worst score of the year.

Amid the wreckage, there were sprightly Scottish survival stories and Martin Laird led the home hopefuls with a spirited one-under 70. The 30-year-old clearly enjoyed the challenge and the glass-like greens were right up his street.

"I've played on a lot faster than this so I do feel more comfortable on these greens," said the three-time PGA Tour champion. "I don't have to think of the speed, I just feel the speed."

Laird had been making purposeful strides up the order and was three-under at the turn. Bogeys at 10, 13 and 14 threatened to leave a sour taste, though, but a birdie at 17 was followed by a par-saving putt of some 40-feet on the last which ensured he marched off the green with a smile on his face.

Marc Warren, making his debut in the Open, was among the early starters and, given the perilous nature of the greens that his playing partner Robert Garrigus suggested were "rolling as fast as Augusta", the double tour champion was more than content with a one-over 72. "The putts weren't realistic birdie chances, but I felt I holed out really well for par today," said Warren.

Grant Forrest, the reigning Scottish Amateur champion, earned a huge amount of praise from his playing partner, Mark O'Meara, after a 73 and it was thoroughly deserved. Three bogeys in five holes from the 10th had him on the slippery slope but he stood firm and birdied both the 15th and 16th in a fighting finale

"Mark started talking to me as soon as I got on the first tee, putting me at ease," said Forrest. "At the end he said well done for hanging in there." As for the remaining Scots battling it out on the trying East Lothian links, George Murray, Stephen Gallacher and Richie Ramsay carded a trio of 76s.