‘One little hiccup’ but Laird off to strong start
Martin Laird produced a polished performance to earn a share of the clubhouse lead in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow.
Laird, the sole Scot in the field in North Carolina, carded six birdies as he opened with a four-under 67 to sit alongside Canadian Nick Taylor, his partner in last week’s Zurich Classic, as well as US pair Patrick Reed and Adam Schenk.
“I played really nicely today with just one little hiccup on the par-3 13th, my fourth,” said Laird of a double-bogey 5 there. “I just got a little too cute with my chip shot.
“There was only one other hole, the 18th, where I was scrambling. I hit a lot of greens, which is important around here, while I gave myself a lot of looks and made some of them. Overall, I am very happy with the way I played.”
In Texas, Paul Lawrie already has a reminder of his Champions Tour debut after being hit on the leg by a golf ball on the range in the build up to the Inspirity Invitational. Now the Aberdonian is hoping it is his turn to make a mark at The Woodlands when he gets his campaign underway on the Us-based circuit in the company of two well-kent faces, Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke.
“Was quite a painful morning as got hit on the leg by a ball hit from the other end of the range by a guy who turned out to be my playing partner,” tweeted Lawrie of his preevent mishap. “Really nice big guy, but it hurt like crazy.”
• Scott Jamieson opened with a four-under 68 to be joint 15th, three shots off the lead, in the Volvo China Open in Shenzhen.
• A four-under-par 68 left Ewen Ferguson just one off the first-round lead in the Challenge de Espana, with Craig Ross a stroke behind.
• Kylie Henry and Carly Booth sit seven and eight shots off the lead respectively heading into the final round of the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic at Emirates Golf Club.
• Dunbar’s Neil Fenwick holds a four-shot lead over Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf) with a round to go in the Aberdeen Golf Links Pro-am.