David Law took “nothing but positives” from his Open experience and it showed in a confident start to the Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews.
Even the late withdrawal through illness of his caddie Max Bill didn’t detract from the Aberdonian’s strong showing on the Torrance course.
Law’s seven-under 65 took a share of sixth on a low scoring day on the cliffs over the Auld Grey Toun. Connor Syme, as local as one gets to the venue, also shot 65 with Scott Jamieson returning a 66 to be well-placed behind the leader at nine-under, the USA’s Sean Crocker.
But for the last minute call to manager Mike MacDougall to fill in on the bag and one blemish with a bogey at 17, it could hardly have gone better for David.
‘He knows what he’s doing out there’
The 2⃣9⃣9⃣ Yard Challenge is back! @DavidLawGolf 🆚 @connor_syme @ScottishOpen 🏴 pic.twitter.com/gBzTrL9b30
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 26, 2022
“Mikey got the call at nine last night when Max called off with illness,” said David. “That could have been a blow because Max has been a huge part of the team, he’s been massive for me this year.
“Mikey is someone I’m really close with, a good friend as well as my manager. He’s caddied in a top event before and he knows what he’s doing out there.”
After taking a week barely hitting a shot after St Andrews, David feels fresh and importantly back to the physical place he wants to be.
“I had a three week run and wasn’t able to go to the gym to work on my hip,” he said. “So I took some time last week to catch up a bit on that. I didn’t touch a club until Wednesday, and didn’t do much work even after that.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but today was a good day. It’s confidence coming out of The Open.
“I think I learned I was comfortable playing on that stage, and that’s important. You can go out there and the pressure of being on that stage can be too much.
“But the Friday especially was a really nice day, and the Sunday was good as well. For the week I realised that I can cut it at that level with the best players in the world.
“Even though the Saturday didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, it wasn’t something I dwelled on. I took nothing but positives from the week.”
‘I got off to a fast start’
And the week up the hill is going just as well so far.
“My swing coach Alan McCloskey was here and we did some good work. My putting coach Andy Paisley was here also and we got good work done.
“And I really like it here. I got off to a fast start (five birdies in a row on the front nine), which was great. You make your score on the front nine, and if you play under par on the back nine it’s a bonus. So I did both of those.”
Like David, Connor Syme likes the venue, has done well here before, and returned a strong day’s work with a 65.
“I played really solid all day. There was had an up and down on 17 from the front, but that was the only time I was chipping all day,” he said. “Just didn’t hole much on the back nine, but very good ball striking.
“I could have a couple more, but the scoring was going that way anyway. You were going to have lots of chances.
“The guys here are really good in letting me come up a couple of weeks ago for a couple of practice rounds. It’s not far from home, in my own bed for a change, which is nice.”
‘I’m looking forward to this run’
How the leaderboard stands 📈#HeroOpen
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 28, 2022
Connor’s excited about a run of events at venues he’s played well at before and in a run of good form.
“I took a couple of weeks off after (The Scottish Open at) Renaissance but took a lot from that week. It was a decent performance there, but I took a lot of confidence just from the first couple of rounds.
“I’m looking forward to this run now. The schedule I’ve got until the end of the season is very exciting, and it feels great this week. We can hopefully push on the next few days.”
Jamieson had a chance to join the duo on seven-under but missed a five foot birdie chance on the last.
There was a strong showing from Greig Hutcheon – making the most of his clutch of opportunities from winning as PGA pro’s event earlier in the year – finishing on four-under 68. Richie Ramsay, last week’s winner at Hillside, defending champion Grant Forrest and Perth pro Daniel Young are also on four-under.
Crocker’s round was built on an incredible run on the front nine. He picked up six strokes in just five holes, crowned by an eagle three at the long sixth.
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