IT’S NOT TRICKY FOR RICKIE – US OPEN:
TARTAN twosome Russell Knox and Martin Laird didn’t set the heather alight – but were reasonably happy with their first competitive appearance together.
The American-based Scots stepped out together in the 8.13am group seeking to take advantage of benign weather conditions.
Laird made a flying start with birdies at his first two holes but a dropped shot at the next halted his momentum in its tracks.
Another two dropped shots on the back nine had him scrambling to battle back with a gutsy birdie at the 16th to get him on course again for a level-par 72.
For Knox the frustrating story of a cold putter undermined his good work off the tee as he stumbled to a 73 he reckons should have been much better.
Knox said: “I played well but made a couple of sloppy mistakes with three-putts from nowhere that killed momentum.
“I played better than the one over I shot and it’s frustrating my mistakes were unforced errors.
“It felt good overall, I drove it nicely. But my problem is putting. I’ve worked hard on it but it’s got worse!
“You can’t get away with missing short putts out here. But it’s no disaster.
“The cut is going to be well over par so I’m more worried about someone eight shots ahead of me.
“There were a couple of really tough holes but there were a lot of easy ones too – but it’s going to get harder.
“It’s going to get firmer, trickier and the wind is probably going to get up.”
Despite their shared nationality and the fact they took similar paths to the PGA Tour via the American golf scholarship circuit, Knox admits he and Laird have never spoken much about their backgrounds.
And he added: “It was nice playing with Martin, we’ve only played practice rounds before.
“College golf in the US is very competitive and you get to play all year round. I can’t see why more people don’t do it.”
Laird was satisfied with his first day and added: “Anytime you can start two under in a US Open you have to be happy.
“I hit some real nice shots out there this morning and overall it was really solid.
“It was also good to get finished as the wind was blowing real hard on 18.
“I am just happy as that was the best I have hit the ball for a long while so all bodes well for the rest of the week.”